Draft National Strategy on Robotics released for public consultation

India is making strides in key technological areas – from artificial intelligence to semiconductors to robotics. Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has released the draft National Strategy on Robotics for public consultation. The Draft National Strategy on Robotics is released for public consultation and feedback can be submitted through the MyGov platform by October 31, 2023.

The National Strategy on Robotics aims to capitalize this potential and nurture the development of robotic technology, helping India emerge as a “Robotics Hub” for the world. To drive India’s global leadership in Robotics, four sectors of strategic importance have also been identified, namely – manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and national security.

“We have put out for public consultation the draft national strategy on robotics and we seek inputs from startups, manufacturing companies and those at the demand side of industry 4.0. This is in line with our strategic planning and thinking for India AI. I invite all those in the robotics and AI ecosystem to contribute and make this a successful policy,” said the minister.

While highlighting the benefits of the strategy, the Minister stated, “The national strategy on robotics policy will present significant opportunities for the manufacturing sector, Industry 4.0 and cyber-physical systems among others, it has the potential to create a lot of impact.”

India has made significant strides in the field of Robotics. Globally too, both the public and private sector have recognised the importance of robotic automation in driving social, economic and technical outcomes for the future.

Advances in AI are expected to have a significant impact in the realm of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) such as Robotics which relies on AI to enable the interaction of the virtual world with components of physical systems. To further maximize the benefits of an AI-integrated society the National Strategy on Robotics has been envisaged as one such key component of IndiaAI.

To enable India’s emergence as a global leader in the development and adoption of robotics, a comprehensive, coherent, and efficient deployment of the National Strategy on Robotics is proposed to be undertaken as the ‘National Robotics Mission’. This will be done through the establishment of the Robotics Innovation Unit (RIU) as an institutional framework under IndiaAI, to facilitate the implementation of the National Strategy on Robotics, adopting a whole ecosystem approach. The RIU has been proposed as an agile and fast responsive independent agency that will nurture the dynamic robotics startup, research, and innovation ecosystem in India.

Multiple interventions have been recommended across the key pillars of a robotics innovation cycle which include Research and Development, Demonstration and Testing, Commercialization and Supply Chain Development, and Adoption and Awareness, to ensure the creation of domestic capabilities in robotic technology in India.

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