BT Explainer: The companies behind the brands: Why product design could be India's next manufacturing opportunity

India's manufacturing boom is opening a new opportunity for the companies that make products for global brands: moving beyond assembly to designing, engineering and developing the products themselves. As global companies diversify their supply chains, Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking to move up the value chain, where technology, product development and component-level expertise could offer greater opportunities than manufacturing scale alone.

The shift comes as India's electronics manufacturing industry has expanded from ₹1.9 lakh crore in FY15 to approximately ₹12 lakh crore in FY25, while the auto components industry reached ₹6.73 lakh crore in FY25. But higher output does not automatically translate into greater value capture for domestic suppliers. The next phase of growth will depend on whether Indian manufacturers can move beyond executing orders to contributing to product design, research and development (R&D), engineering and system integration.

For companies operating behind established brands, the opportunity is to become strategic partners in product development rather than remain suppliers brought in after the design is finalised.

From manufacturing to product development

Shreyans Jain, Managing Director and CEO of Samarth Engineering (PSPL Group), said the greater value in manufacturing increasingly lies in product development, particularly when it is combined with component-level technology and branding.

"Real Value today sits on product development, However the highest value would come in product development with technology at component level and selling with a brand," Jain said.

For India, he said, this would mean moving beyond the traditional OEM assembly model towards original design manufacturing (ODM), in which companies take a more active role in designing, engineering and building products for domestic and international markets.

The distinction is important. Under a conventional manufacturing arrangement, a supplier primarily produces goods according to specifications provided by a customer. An engineering-led manufacturer, by contrast, can contribute to product design, component development, testing and system integration, potentially expanding its role in the value chain.

Naman Shah, Managing Director and CEO of LeSol Group, said manufacturing remains the foundation of a competitive product, but the greater value opportunity lies in combining it with product development, engineering and technology.

"In today's scenario, the true value does not lie in one link of the value chain but lies in how successfully the manufacturing, technology, product development, and components fit into the chain," Shah said.

He added that scale, quality, cost competitiveness and execution would continue to determine whether a product could compete successfully, even as companies invested in deeper technical capabilities.

Why global supply-chain diversification matters

The diversification of global supply chains presents an opportunity for Indian manufacturers to strengthen their position as suppliers to international brands. However, securing manufacturing contracts may not be enough to establish a lasting competitive advantage.

Companies that can contribute from the design stage, integrate complex systems and develop specialised components could become more closely involved in customers' product strategies.

Shah said the next step for Indian manufacturers was to build capabilities that allowed them to contribute to products from the design stage itself.

At LeSol, he said, the focus was increasingly on combining electronics manufacturing with engineering, R&D, system integration and product-development capabilities across healthcare, industrial electronics and automotive electronics.

Such capabilities can help manufacturers participate in more stages of a product's development, rather than limiting their role to production after the design has been finalised.

Skills and productivity will determine competitiveness

The transition towards higher-value manufacturing will also require changes in how factories operate and how workers are trained.

Jain said India's supplier ecosystem needed to move from a reliance on cheap labour towards a workforce with stronger technical skills. Continuous upskilling, certification and employee retention would be important in developing technicians and engineers rather than relying predominantly on production-line operators.

He also emphasised the need to improve productivity rather than focus exclusively on adding manufacturing capacity.

Reducing cycle times, increasing throughput, improving line balancing, raising overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and adopting lean automation would be critical to making Indian suppliers more competitive, he said.

These improvements could help manufacturers meet the quality, cost and delivery requirements of global customers while supporting more sophisticated production processes.

The shift could also create opportunities for higher-value employment, although the extent of job creation would vary across manufacturing segments and depend on the adoption of technology and the skills required.

Can OEMs become co-creators?

A further change could come in the relationship between manufacturers and the brands they serve. Instead of simply producing goods to customer specifications, OEMs could increasingly collaborate with brands on product design and development.

Jain said discussions around this shift had begun, but the process remained slow. Samarth Engineering was working on solutions for vehicle applications, material movement and construction equipment components, using its own designs, with products expected to enter the market later in 2026, he said.

Shah said OEM relationships were increasingly moving from execution-led arrangements towards more collaborative partnerships in which manufacturers contributed engineering and system-integration expertise.

Under this model, brands could gain access to specialised manufacturing and technical capabilities, while OEMs could develop deeper domain knowledge and participate in a larger part of the product value chain.

Can design capabilities translate into greater value?

For India, the challenge will be to translate manufacturing scale into stronger design capabilities, technological expertise and sustained customer partnerships. Higher production volumes can establish a foundation, but the ability to develop products, solve engineering problems and contribute proprietary capabilities could determine how much value domestic manufacturers ultimately capture.

The next stage of India's manufacturing story may therefore be shaped not only by the brands consumers recognise, but also by the companies behind them that increasingly help determine what those brands make.