The Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli, is planning to introduce a programme on manufacturing management soon, its Director Prafulla Agnihotri said here on Saturday.
“We are planning to introduce the programme by June and it will seek to enhance the competitiveness of engineers. The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has come forward to support the programme,” Mr. Agnihotri said. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Foundation Day celebration of the IIM-Tiruchirapalli.
Mr. Agnihotri said the IIM-Tiruchirapalli could move in to its permanent campus, to come up on a 172-acre land near the Bharathidasan University on the Tiruchi-Pudukottai Highway by June 2016.
Earlier, speaking at the Foundation Day celebration, which was marked by a panel discussion on “Manufacturing sector: a source of global competitiveness for India,” Mr. Agnihotri said the country could not be globally competitive if it ignored the manufacturing sector.
A.V. Krishnan, Executive Director, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Tiruchi, said the NMCC had drawn up a vision plan to achieve 12 to 14 per cent growth in the manufacturing sector. With its sheer size and potential for jobs, the sector had the ability to spur economic growth. “Many countries are looking to have their manufacturing facilities in India. We have the facilities but we need to have a dedicated logistics policy,” he observed.
S.R. Subramanian, Executive Vice-President (Machinery and Industrial Products IC), Larsen and Toubro, said manufacturing sector could record tremendous growth if logistics and taxation issues were resolved. There was a big talent build up and there was synergy between engineers and managers which could bring in more innovations. Several companies had set up their design units here and innovations would take place with manufacturing sector as the backbone, he said. Presenting the perspective of the micro, small, and medium enterprises viewpoint, Rani Muralidharan, chairperson, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tiruchi zone, stressed on the need for the manufacturing sector, especially MSMEs, to focus on quality, process improvement, safety, and health issues.
“There are big opportunities coming up in the sector and we only need to have a change in mindset towards quality, process improvement, and safety issues,” she said. V. Gopal, Dean (Academics), IIM-Tiruchirapalli, who moderated the discussion, said the country had to grow through the manufacturing sector.
