India Government Moving Forward With New 3D Printing Policy

The government of India is set to develop a new policy regarding 3D printing.

According to a report on AM Chronicle, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is to develop a new policy that will promote use of 3D printing “on an industrial scale” to help Indian companies.

A draft of this new policy is apparently to be sent to interested parties for feedback in weeks to come. It is not known yet specifically what is in the policy, but it is expected to deal with both hardware and software aspects of additive manufacturing.

AM Chronicle says:

“According to the draft policy, the Central Government will also look to encourage market leaders to establish global bases for 3D manufacturing in India, while also discouraging imports of printed material for domestic requirements.”

Focus areas for the policy will include medical, automotive and aerospace sectors.

This is a very interesting move by the Indian government. Evidently they are aware that the market for additive manufacturing is expected to increase substantially over the next years, providing an estimate of 23.2% compound growth and leading to a market size of US$34.8B by 2024. It seems they want to ensure the country is able to capture part of that market.

The policy could potentially include money, tax incentives, rules of origin requirements, or other approaches to promote use of the technology in India.

There could be several effects from this policy.

If successful, the policy could lead to increased additive manufacturing in India. That would encompass not only 3D printing activities, but also many ancillary activities such as materials, software, consulting, shipping, and more. If any of these grow to a critical mass, we could see these expand outside of India. In other words, an outcome could be new Indian options for global additive manufacturing.

For the rest of the world, it may suddenly become harder for foreign companies to operate, sell or work in India on additive manufacturing. That could be a strategy by the Indian government to make space in the country for emergence of local products and services. It may also cause some service providers to set up shop in India, rather than using out-of-country bases. For example, an Australian operation serving the region might have to reconsider relocating to India. But we won’t know the true effects until the policy is released.

In general, however, this policy will no doubt raise the overall level of 3D printing activity, and that’s a good thing. The more people using the technology, the more powerful and less expensive it will become.

Via AM Chronicle