Today, India is ranked as one of the leading exporters of pharmaceuticals supplying not just to developing countries but also to developed markets such as US, Japan, EU, etc. Its prowess in pharmaceutical production was in full display when in a very short period of time it was able to not just develop Covid vaccine, but also scale up production to meet vaccine requirements across the world. India has demonstrated strong innovation capabilities, tremendous strength in developing cost-efficient processes and producing drugs that meet international quality norms. One of the most important events that contributed to this remarkable development was the Indian Government's decision to abolish product patent protection for pharmaceuticals in 1972. Before 1972, multinational corporations (MNCs) used their patent rights to prevent Indian companies from manufacturing these drugs locally. As a result, the industry remained underdeveloped. Post abolition of product patent regime, India has grown to become the powerhouse of pharmaceuticals.

The 1970s also saw a series of efforts being taken by the government to activate domestic manufacturing of industrial products by reserving many sectors only for small-scale industries (SSIs). Many entrepreneurs grabbed this opportunity by foraying into manufacturing activities. However, due to limited source of information about latest machinery and products, these entrepreneurs faced a lot of challenges to establish their manufacturing plant. To fulfil this requirement of the then emerging manufacturing sector in India, Industrial Products Finder (IPF) was started in 1972 with the sole intention to serve local industries by providing comprehensive knowledge about industrial products and their applications. In the absence of Internet or any other digital platform, IPF was considered to be the only credible source of information of technology and soon became India’s most trusted brand in the industrial publication space - a position it still holds today with pride and responsibility.

India's economy has witnessed a sea change in the latest 50 years transforming from a protected economy to an open marketplace with liberal government policies. While earlier policies were framed to encourage SSIs, the Government now is incentivising big companies - through initiatives like Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme - to set up large scale manufacturing facilities. With this, needs of the manufacturing industry have also undergone changes with more and more mechanical parts being replaced by electronic components. Similarly, many manual works are now being done with automated machinery/equipment. Amid these changes, what has remained constant is the endeavour of IPF to equip Indian industries with information that enables them to face the dynamic market place.

The need and opportunity for the Indian manufacturing industry has never been at a more inflexion point than now when Indian manufacturing has seen services sector take the lead role of growth while the world is seeking a ‘China plus one’ policy. In fiscal year 2020, manufacturing generated 17.4 percent of India’s GDP, little more than the 15.3 percent it had contributed in 2000. (By comparison, Vietnam’s manufacturing sector more than doubled its share of GDP during the same interval.) And in the past 13 years, India’s manufacturing-sector share of employment increased by just one percentage point, compared with a five-point increase for the services sector. The PLI scheme is, therefore, a clarion call for manufacturing business.

While Covid pandemic compelled companies to go for digital solution, IPF had realised the importance of digitalisation more than 15 years ago when it established India's first online marketplace - www.ipfonline.com - for industrial products. With manufacturing sector getting ready for the fourth industrial revolution, IPF is all set to facilitate this journey by hosting 3i EXPO 2022 on May 20-21, 2022 to bring all the stake-holders of Industry 4.0 on one platform. Visit www.3iEXPO.com

Thank you, readers, for trusting IPF for the last 50 years and we would like to reassure you that we will continue to serve Indian manufacturers with business-relevant information to give them a competitive edge in the market place.