BENGALURU: India is far away from becoming the manufacturing hub of the world. Government plays a big role in the success of manufacturing and unless the public governance system is improved, for India to become a leader is very difficult, said NR Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, here on Friday.
Speaking at ‘ELCIA Tech Summit 2024’, he said, “These (hub, global leader) are all big words that we shouldn’t use. China has already become the factory of the world. Around 90% of things in supermarkets and at home depots in other countries are manufactured in China. They have six times the GDP of India. It is too audacious of us to say India will become the manufacturing hub,” he said.
Explaining why India has a long way to go on the manufacturing journey, Murthy said for the IT sector, the success of business primarily depends on exports.
‘Entrepreneurs need to learn to assess market’
“We hardly depend on India. However, for manufacturing, by and large, the domestic contribution is more and the government plays a big role in the success of manufacturing. Unfortunately, the response time, transparency, accountability, speed, and excellence in public governance in a country like India still need to improve. Unless there is a mechanism, where you reduce the interface between government and the industry, the growth of manufacturing can happen,” Murthy said.
“Entrepreneurs need to learn to assess the market and estimate the possible size they can capture. They must be able to produce simple mathematical models to bring higher value leverage, vis-à-vis all other ideas in the market. This knowledge and talent are mandatory for success,” Murthy said.
Addressing concerns over the impact of AI in the long term, he expressed confidence that Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI will not take over all jobs.
“AI will not replace designers and individuals implementing large-scale application systems, simply because they are too complex. There will have to be huge data dictionaries, data programmes and interconnectivity between all. The creativity and power of the human mind are superior to this system,” he said.