New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS): Urging Indian manufacturers to become more competitive, NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat on Wednesday said there is a need to shift from manual to automated systems and embrace new technology to become globally competitive.

"There was a need to change the perception about the quality of Indian products, which was not seen at par with global standards. This required a change in the mindset of the people and they needed to shift from manual processes to automated systems and embrace new technology to become competitive on the global stage," he said at an event here organised by industry chamber FICCI.

Sarswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said that it was important to reduce waste in processes such as under-utilization of human resources and inefficient use of machines in order to lower costs and improve product quality.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for "zero defect, zero effect" (ZED) manufacturing, he said the most important aspect of ZED was that the processes must be executed in the right way at the first instance.

For sustainable and inclusive growth, it was imperative to match global products and
service standards, he added.

In his address, joint secretary, department of heavy industries, Vishvajit Sahay said that India aims to grow as an export-led economy.

"It has become imperative to enhance quality of the capital goods sector products by adopting technology-driven processes," he said.

Sahay also said the government would soon announce the setting up of a park and a centre of excellence for machine tools to bring new age technology to the sector.