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India's next manufacturing challenge lies in capability
This article is authored by Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director, Jindal Stainless Ltd.
India's manufacturing story has entered a defining phase. Over the past decade, we have made remarkable progress in expanding production capacity, strengthening infrastructure, attracting investments and positioning India as a preferred global manufacturing destination. Today, manufacturing is no longer just an engine of economic growth. It is central to India's aspiration of becoming a developed nation.
While this progress deserves recognition, the next chapter of India's manufacturing journey will be shaped by a different question. The challenge is no longer simply about producing more. It is about whether we can build the capabilities required to sustain that growth.
For years, the conversation around manufacturing revolved around capacity. How do we build more factories? How do we increase production? How do we become globally competitive? India has made significant strides on each of these fronts. The more important question today is whether our workforce is evolving at the same pace as our manufacturing ambitions.
Technology can be acquired. Infrastructure can be built. Investments can be mobilised. Building a skilled and future-ready workforce, however, requires sustained effort, collaboration and long-term commitment. That, in my view, is where India's next manufacturing challenge truly lies.
One of the biggest misconceptions about Indian manufacturing is that we face a shortage of people. In reality, the challenge is not the availability of talent, but the availability of industry-ready talent equipped for a rapidly evolving manufacturing landscape. This is something many of us in manufacturing have recognised for years, and the recently released Training Need Assessment by PwC validates that experience.
In the stainless-steel ecosystem, only one in three independent fabricators today are classified as 'skilled', while the remaining two thirds continue to be semi-skilled or unskilled. More importantly, 52% of fabricators expressed their willingness to undergo future training. To me, this is perhaps the most encouraging finding in the study. It tells us that the challenge is not a lack of aspiration. It is the lack of structured, accessible and industry-relevant skilling opportunities. When people are willing to learn, the responsibility shifts to industry, institutions and policymakers to create pathways that enable continuous growth.
And that naturally brings us to another important question, how should we view skilling itself?
Skilling is often viewed through the lens of social development. It should also be viewed as a strategic business investment. Every manufacturing leader understands that productivity, quality, safety and innovation ultimately depend on the capabilities of the people operating the business. Investments in technology deliver their full potential only when supported by an equally capable workforce.
The PwC assessment reinforces this perspective. Trained fabricators earn nearly 14% more than their untrained counterparts, demonstrating that skill development delivers tangible economic value for both individuals and businesses. At the same time, the study highlights a significant capability gap across the manufacturing ecosystem. Nearly 65% of workers in the organised sector are classified as skilled, compared with only around one-third of independent fabricators.
Given the critical role that MSMEs and independent fabrication units play in India's manufacturing value chain, closing this gap should become a shared priority. India's manufacturing competitiveness cannot be built within large enterprises alone. It must extend across the entire ecosystem.
Manufacturing itself is undergoing a profound transformation. Automation, digitalisation and advanced manufacturing technologies are redefining how factories operate and, consequently, the skills they require. The question is no longer whether technology will reshape manufacturing it already has. The real question is whether our workforce is adapting quickly enough.
The latest PWC study reflects this shift. Roles such as quality control professionals and skilled welders remain among the hardest to fill, while employers increasingly anticipate greater demand for digital and technology-oriented capabilities over the coming years.
This underscores an important reality: The future of manufacturing will demand not only technical expertise but also adaptability and continuous learning. Preparing people for this future cannot begin only after they enter the workforce. It must start much earlier.
If there is one capability gap that concerns me the most, it is the disconnect between education and industry. I have observed this gap first-hand while interacting with fresh engineering graduates joining the organization. Preparing young talent for manufacturing cannot remain the responsibility of educational institutions alone. The industry has an equally important role to play in making learning more practical, relevant and aligned with evolving business needs.
Perhaps the most striking finding in the report lies beyond the factory floor. According to the report, 58% of students feel only moderately prepared or not prepared at all for industry roles. More importantly, students who had undergone industry led interventions reported preparedness levels of 93%, compared to just 18% among those relying solely on institutional learning.
This is one of the clearest indicators that industry and academia cannot continue to work in isolations. They must work together if we want to build a workforce that is ready for the realities of modern manufacturing from day one. Bridging this gap requires a shift in mindset.
Skill development cannot begin only after someone enters the workforce. Nor can it remain a one-time intervention. As manufacturing technologies continue to evolve, learning must become continuous. Stakeholders such as industry, educational institutions, training partners, and policymakers each have a role in making sure that young professionals have the ability to enter the labor market with relevant skills. The government's continued emphasis on apprenticeships and industry-led skilling reflects the growing recognition that classroom learning alone is no longer sufficient. The next step is to strengthen industry-academia collaboration so that graduates are equipped with both strong theoretical foundations and practical, workplace-ready capabilities.
With one of the world's youngest populations and fastest-growing manufacturing economies India has immense opportunity. But a demographic dividend does not automatically translate into a manufacturing advantage. It does so only when young people possess the skills to participate meaningfully in economic growth. The countries that will lead manufacturing over the next decade will not necessarily be those with the largest factories, but those with the most skilled and adaptable workforces. India has every opportunity to be among them, provided we invest in talent with the same conviction as we invest in infrastructure and technology.
As the country continues to build world-class manufacturing capacity, we must invest with equal conviction in building world class manufacturing talent. Because in the years ahead, our global competitiveness will not be determined solely by the factories we build or the products we manufacture. It will be determined by the capabilities of the people behind them.
Capacity may fuel growth. Capability will define leadership.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director, Jindal Stainless Ltd.
