Udyog Manthan - PM Modi's Visionary Leadership for Quality & Productivity

Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji gave the clarion call to focus on quality when he said that it is an opportune moment for India to work on the ethos of ‘Zero Defect, Zero Effect’. He urged the Indian manufacturers and other industry leaders to ensure that our products meet global standards.

Taking inspiration from his vision, Udyog Manthan, a marathon of webinars focused on Productivity and Quality in Indian Industry started on January 4, 2021. The collaborative exercise was an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry in association with the Department of Commerce, National Productivity Council, Quality Council of India, Bureau of Indian Standards, Industry Chambers and concerned ministries.

During the eight weeks of Udyog Manthan, 46 sessions on all major manufacturing and service sectors, which cover about 70% of GDP, were conducted. These include all sectors representative of the industrial landscape of India - from MSMES to large organized industries, established and sunrise sectors including Automobile, Steel, Pharma, Defence, Cement, Textiles, Chemicals, Tourism/Hospitality, Financial Services, Biotechnology, New and Renewable Energy, among others. With over 400 speakers and 17,000+ participants and viewers on various platforms and 7 million social media impressions, this Manthan drew a very enthusiastic response. Issues related to the quality and productivity were discussed in detail as also best practices and interventions needed. Since ease of doing business and reduction in compliance burden are key to realizing the goal of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, two sessions on “Quality in Government Process” were also organized. A session on consumers perspective was also organized to draw attention to issues from the demand side.

During the Keynote address by Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry, and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said "Quality is not an accident, it is a painstaking collective organizational effort...We will further the AatmaNirbhar Bharat vision of Prime Minister Modi. We will make sure that Brand India gets identified by quality and we will engage with the world on the strength of cost competitiveness and high quality". 

Based on deliberations during Udyog Manthan a compendium of quality and productivity-related sectoral recommendations is under preparation and will be released shortly.

NPC played a key role by coordinating with 30-40 National Speakers and about 12 International speakers in the Manthan, who added depth to the discussion with vital insights and international best practices. 

Article by Dr Vandana Kumar, Joint Secretary, DPIIT