Kant, while addressing a virtual FICCI event, further said the government is finalizing its plans to expand its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to more sectors for boosting domestic manufacturing.

"The Government of India has been working on multiple fronts to position India as a truly global manufacturing hub with a strong focus on exports...Aatmanirbhar Bharat does not mean self-isolation but a very deep integration into the global value chains and using the manufacturing strength of India to become a leading exporter globally," he said. Kant noted that investment and innovation will drive manufacturing in India.

"Both countries and companies are re-evaluating their trade and manufacturing strategies which can serve as new avenues of growth in India," he said. Kant pointed out that the PLI scheme for mobile and select electronics will have a multiplier impact for both direct and indirect jobs.

"As many as 22 domestic and international manufacturing firms including iPhone maker Apple's contract manufacturers as well as Samsung, Lava, Dixon have given proposals for mobile phone production worth Rs 11 lakh crore over the next five years. "And taking mobile manufacturing as a template, similar schemes have been launched in pharmaceutical, medical devices and now we are finalizing schemes for automobile, networking products, food processing, advanced chemistry, and solar PV manufacturing," the Niti Aayog CEO said. The government has notified the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, the scheme for promotion of manufacturing of electronic components and semiconductors, and the modified electronics manufacturing clusters (EMC 2.0) scheme.

Kant said India is keen on creating truly global manufacturing champions in sectors of strength through benchmarking, cost disabilities against other manufacturing hubs, and developing a bespoke strategy for each sector. "Manufacturing will lead India's export targets by 2025 in key sectors, including mobile, electronics, pharmaceutical, textiles, engineering products, etc," he said.

Noting that data must be transformed into actionable insights to create value for governments and businesses, Kant said technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality should be used as virtual means to train people.