1. According to a new plan,Triumph Motorcycles will start assembling completely knocked-down (CKD) kits at a factory in the Gurgaon-Manesar area in Haryana. The company’s manufacturing plans in Karnataka will also be implemented . Almost all the high-end models are to get launched in India.

2. Using the expertise of its nearly 2000 engineers at Philips Innovation Centre (PIC) in Bangalore and three other R&D sites in India, and aligning the marketing and sales teams with them, Philips, the Dutch electronics company in India has launched a complete set of products that also create a new segment under its Critical Care Unit. It is branded as Philips Efficia and consists of infant Warmers and Incubators and a sophisticated, first-of-its-kind, respiratory device – NeoPAP (neonatal continuous positive airway pressure) delivery system.

3. Isuzu Motors India Pvt. Ltd, which started selling its utility vehicles in India this year, said it had entered an agreement with Hindustan Motors Ltd for contract manufacturing of sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks.I wish Hindustan Motors would have been a serious player. I still think that the news is for share market.

4. Fiat Group India has a manufacturing facility near Pune with a capacity of producing 1.60 lakh units and three lakh engines.Italy-based Fiat group, which has tied up with the US-based car maker Jeep, will launch the first model under the brand in the country during the last quarter of 2013 as a “completely built unit”. Reasons unknown, Fiat failed to be steady player in India with many of its attempts that failed.

5. Exports from special economic zones (SEZs) grew by about 31% year-on-year to Rs 4.76 lakh crore during 2012-13, compared with shipments worth R3.65 lakh crore in 2011-12. As per the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES), out of 389 SEZs notified, 170 are operational and these exports are helping in the reducing the widening current account deficit (CAD). During 2012-13, SEZs have attracted a total of R2.36 lakh crore investment and provided direct employment opportunities to over 11 lakh people. SEZ could have pushed the exports tremendously, if the government would have been proactive and consistent with its policies.

6. A car production line is typically divided into three sub-lines — a weld line, followed by a paint shop and a final assembly line. “The assembly line typically needs the most number of workers. At Maruti’s newest line in Manesar, the weld line is 100% automated, while the paint shop has about 70% automated. Customers are demanding better quality products today and higher automation helps in maintaining consistent quality.

7. On July 15, everybody who matters in Nissan Motor Company will be in New Delhi for the global unveiling of the Datsun by Carlos Ghosn, 59, chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.The 500-odd engineers at Renault-Nissan Technology Business Centre, located south of Chennai, are rushing against time to put together the final touches to the Datsun they will unveil before their boss in July. Given the potential size of the sub-Rs 4,00,000 car market, Nissan wants to grow its dealerships more than three-fold, from 97 right now to about 350 by 2016. The Datsun (priced under Rs 4,00,000) is going to be the new entry-level car in India.

8. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) Private Limited would enhance the production capacity to 4 million with the commissioning of its Narsapura plant in Karnataka. Motorcycles remain the biggest success story for India’s manufacturing strength. Other sectors must take lessons.

9. Himachal based forgings and gear maker Him Teknoforge together with another Baddi-based autocomponent maker Globe Precision Industries Pvt Ltd and other associates has entered into an agreement with Vadodara-based gear maker Gujarat Automotive Gears Ltd (GAGL) to acquire 55 per cent stake in the company. Smaller manufacturers are also doing their bit.

10. According to the proposal, the design and development of the aircraft is expected to cost Rs.4,355 crore and series production would entail further expenditure of Rs.3,200 crore. The aircraft is to be built through a collaborative venture of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and DRDO. It will be take some years to be ready for flight.

11. Audi, the Volkswagen Group-owned luxury car maker, is considering manufacturing certain models of its luxury cars in India instead of assembling them here, reflecting its confidence in the Indian luxury car market.

12. With an aim of boosting manufacturing and exports amid sharp fall in the rupee, the government has decided to take a slew of steps, including enhancing steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes and raising textile exports by 30 per cent this year.

Indian manufacturing sector is slowly and steadily moving to find its place. It is high time that Indian government creates a ministry for manufacturing sector after defining ‘manufacturing’ correctly. One could take lessons from China even if one doesn’t want to compete.

Amitabh Kant, CEO & MD of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation narrates in a lead column in Times of India, ” The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, Foxconn, is holding trade union “elections” at its gigantic factories in China which employ 1.2 million workers. This is a radical change demanded by an increasingly restive workforce. The company had moved from Taiwan to Shenzhen at the end of the 1980s. They are beginning to reverse the process and are now opening factories in Brazil and Indonesia. As wages rise and China evolves into a high-cost economy, will India be able to fill the vacuum to become the global centre of manufacturing?”

India has the potential to be one of the top three manufacturing nations, but for its very peculiar mind sets of the politicians who decides the government policies.