Universal Robots eyes MSMEs to expand here

MUMBAI: Even as India continues to eye automation as a threat, Danish robots maker Universal Robots is betting on medium, small and micro (MSMEs) industries to more than double the number of robots deployed in India in the next 3-5 years.

The maker of collaborative robots or ‘cobots’ — robots that work with humans in manufacturing facilities — currently has 400 robots deployed, and sees the number rising to 1,000 in the near future. To be sure, India still contributes less than 5% to its global revenue of around $170 million.

“In the past, MSMEs could not afford the technology, but now, they are big users of cobots. We have many customers with less than 50 employees who are deploying them,” Pradeep David, general manager, South Asia for Universal Robots told ET during his recent visit to Mumbai.


The use of robots on Indian assembly lines has always been viewed with scepticism, considering the number of manual jobs these robots could displace in a country that is already teeming with a large number of unemployed youth.