‘We need to master these…’: Sridhar Vembu on how India can become a ‘truly great manufacturing nation’
“All these areas have a very value addition and you can compete even with high wages," explained Sridhar Vembu.
- Dec 17, 2025,
- Updated Dec 17, 2025 8:48 AM IST
India can become a “truly great manufacturing nation” but it would need to master a few things first, said founder and chief scientist of Zoho Corporation, Sridhar Vembu. He said countries with smaller population and very high labour cost than India have succeeded in it.
Talking about India being one of the top five manufacturing nations, Vembu said India still has to master capital goods and highly intricate processes. He said the prowess of the countries that are ahead of India in manufacturing comes from the mastery of capital goods, including advanced and high precision machinery, advanced materials, sensors, and mastery of highly intricate industrial processes, such as making specialty alloys, growing crystals, specialty chemicals, optical/imaging/medical equipment and so on.
“All these areas have a very value addition and you can compete even with high wages. That is why high wage nations are such huge manufacturing powers. China has been catching up in these areas and as it does, it is becoming a high wage nation,” he said.
“To be a truly great manufacturing nation and achieve high income for our people, India needs to master all these areas. We can do it,” he added.
Recently, economist Sanjeev Sanyal said that India must expand both manufacturing and services in the next few years. India needs an array of things from agriculture and construction to electronics, pharmaceuticals and shipbuilding to secure long-term growth and strategic resilience, he said. "In a country which is as big as ours, I don't think you can do one and not the other. It's not the case that we'll do only manufacturing,” said Sanyal in a podcast.
Meanwhile, the Flash Manufacturing PMI declined by nearly one point to 55.7 from 56.6, and the Services PMI also fell, but more modestly, to 59.1 in December from 59.8 in November. Despite the continued expansion in output, the employment index dropped to its lowest level since early 2024, remaining just above the 50 mark. S&P Global noted that companies in both manufacturing and services sectors reported that their current workforce numbers were generally sufficient to manage new order inflows.
India can become a “truly great manufacturing nation” but it would need to master a few things first, said founder and chief scientist of Zoho Corporation, Sridhar Vembu. He said countries with smaller population and very high labour cost than India have succeeded in it.
Talking about India being one of the top five manufacturing nations, Vembu said India still has to master capital goods and highly intricate processes. He said the prowess of the countries that are ahead of India in manufacturing comes from the mastery of capital goods, including advanced and high precision machinery, advanced materials, sensors, and mastery of highly intricate industrial processes, such as making specialty alloys, growing crystals, specialty chemicals, optical/imaging/medical equipment and so on.
“All these areas have a very value addition and you can compete even with high wages. That is why high wage nations are such huge manufacturing powers. China has been catching up in these areas and as it does, it is becoming a high wage nation,” he said.
“To be a truly great manufacturing nation and achieve high income for our people, India needs to master all these areas. We can do it,” he added.
Recently, economist Sanjeev Sanyal said that India must expand both manufacturing and services in the next few years. India needs an array of things from agriculture and construction to electronics, pharmaceuticals and shipbuilding to secure long-term growth and strategic resilience, he said. "In a country which is as big as ours, I don't think you can do one and not the other. It's not the case that we'll do only manufacturing,” said Sanyal in a podcast.
Meanwhile, the Flash Manufacturing PMI declined by nearly one point to 55.7 from 56.6, and the Services PMI also fell, but more modestly, to 59.1 in December from 59.8 in November. Despite the continued expansion in output, the employment index dropped to its lowest level since early 2024, remaining just above the 50 mark. S&P Global noted that companies in both manufacturing and services sectors reported that their current workforce numbers were generally sufficient to manage new order inflows.