India on course to fill competitive gap with China

NEW DELHI: India will significantly bridge the gap with China in manufacturing competitiveness over the next five years says a joint study by consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and US Council on Competitiveness.

India was ranked second among a list of 26 nations from both developed and emerging in the 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index. While China had an index score of 10, India was at 8.15 that is expected to move up to 9.01 in the next five years when China will be at the same level.

“India with its strong growth rate is expected to gain a stronger foothold over the next five years,” said Kumar Kandaswami, manufacturing leader at Deloitte in India. The country’s strength in research and development, paired with engineering, software, and technology integration abilities, are viewed by global executives as a vital element of the talent-driven and innovative manufacturing enterprise of the 21st century, as per the report.

Manufacturing executives increasingly view India as a place where they can design, develop and manufacture innovative products for sale in local as well as in global markets. “These factors explain, in part, India’s rise from a low-cost, “back office” location to a country that is well-positioned to be an active participant in the entire value chain—as well as it now being viewed by many executives as an integral part of their global manufacturing enterprise and location strategy,” said the report.

Korea, US, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Singapore and Poland are the other economies that square up the top ten countries in the index, that is based on responses of senior management executives from companies across the globe and captured the drivers to manufacturing competitiveness. The report says Thailand will enter the top ten nations in terms of manufacturing competitiveness in the next five years.