India should not get into areas where China is already a leader: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

India cannot become the next factory of the world by copying China, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Thursday at an event organised by industry body CII via video conferencing. Kant emphasised that India’s aim to become a global leader can be achieved if the country gets into the sunrise areas of growth.

He said India’s private sector needs to realise its full potential to fulfil the ambitious target it has set for itself. It needs to focus on green hydrogen, high-end batteries, advanced solar panels to become competitive.

“India cannot become the next factory of the world by copying China. We have always got into sunset areas of growth, this is the time to get into sunrise areas of growth,” he said.

India should not get into areas where China is already a leader, pointed out Kant.

“India has the strongest global companies in the renewable sector. These (hydrogen, high-end batteries, advanced solar panels) are areas of technology of growth if you want to be a global leader,” he noted.

Indian Industry needs to strive to become lean, digital and invest in skills, a steep increase in corporate R&D, and cutting edge product innovations to be competitive, Niti Aayog CEO added further.

“The new technology has to be shared, connected and electric,” he said.

Kant said, “The world is moving towards green technology. The old technology will die, the green technology is the future.” He said India is looking at innovative projects for reducing costs in green energy projects. The need of the hour for the private sector is to leverage the disruption caused by Covid-19 to become globally competitive.