Mains Practice Questions for the Day
- Q. Additive Manufacturing has the potential to strengthen India’s technological self-reliance and transform strategic sectors. Examine its opportunities and challenges in India. How can NSAM 2.0 accelerate its commercial adoption?
- Q. The suspension of major technology companies from the United States’ Permanent Labor Certification Programme (PERM) has implications beyond immigration policy. Examine its impact on Indian professionals, the Indian IT industry and India–US economic relations. Suggest suitable measures.
Q. Additive Manufacturing has the potential to strengthen India’s technological self-reliance and transform strategic sectors. Examine its opportunities and challenges in India. How can NSAM 2.0 accelerate its commercial adoption?
Introduction:
Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly called 3D printing, creates three-dimensional objects by depositing or fusing material layer by layer according to a digital design. Unlike subtractive manufacturing, it produces complex and customised components with limited material wastage.
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Opportunities for India
- Defence and strategic autonomy: Enables local production of spare parts, military structures and components in remote areas.
- Space sector: Supports lightweight, complex and single-piece engine components, as demonstrated by Agnikul’s additively manufactured semi-cryogenic engine.
- Healthcare: Facilitates patient-specific implants, prosthetics, surgical guides and bone grafts.
- Electronics: Supports printed batteries, antennas, capacitors and photonic components.
- Construction: Can reduce construction time, material wastage and logistical costs.
- Distributed production: Digital designs can be manufactured close to the point of use, strengthening supply-chain resilience.
- Innovation and employment: Creates opportunities in design, software, material science, machine manufacturing and maintenance.
- Sustainability: Precise material deposition can improve resource efficiency and support Industry 5.0.
Challenges
- High cost of machines, specialised materials and post-processing
- Dependence on imported equipment and metal powders
- Absence of common standards and certification systems
- Shortage of skilled designers and material scientists
- Difficulty in ensuring consistent product quality
- Limited transition from prototypes to commercial production
- Intellectual-property theft and manipulation of digital designs
- High energy use and uncertain environmental benefits in some applications
Role of NSAM 2.0
NSAM 2.0 should:
- develop indigenous machines, materials and software;
- establish certification and testing laboratories;
- create shared AM facilities for MSMEs and start-ups;
- expand Design for Additive Manufacturing training;
- link research institutions with industrial clusters;
- support commercialisation through finance and public procurement;
- strengthen cybersecurity and intellectual-property protection; and
- promote international partnerships while safeguarding strategic technologies.
Conclusion:
India has already trained over 1.54 lakh individuals, supported 56 start-ups and developed 65 indigenous AM technologies under NSAM. By shifting its focus from prototypes to affordable and certified commercial products, NSAM 2.0 can make additive manufacturing a pillar of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047.
Q. The suspension of major technology companies from the United States’ Permanent Labor Certification Programme (PERM) has implications beyond immigration policy. Examine its impact on Indian professionals, the Indian IT industry and India–US economic relations. Suggest suitable measures.
Introduction:
The PERM Programme is an employer-driven labour-certification process administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. It generally precedes employer-sponsored Green Card applications and seeks to ensure that hiring foreign workers does not adversely affect the employment, wages or working conditions of American workers. The suspension of several major IT companies over alleged violations may particularly affect Indian professionals.
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Implications
For Indian professionals
- Suspension of fresh PERM filings can delay labour certification, the priority date and subsequent I-140 petition.
- Indians face greater hardship because employment-based Green Cards are subject to per-country limits and long EB-2 and EB-3 backlogs.
- Workers approaching the normal six-year H-1B limit may face uncertainty if their permanent-residency process cannot begin.
- Delays can restrict job mobility and affect family settlement, spousal employment and children’s education.
For Indian IT companies
- Firms may face higher compliance, audit and legal costs.
- Permanent deployment of Indian employees at American client locations could become difficult.
- Companies may increase local hiring, offshore delivery, automation and distributed global delivery.
- Skilled employees may shift to unaffected employers or countries offering more predictable immigration pathways.
For India–US relations
- Restrictions on professional mobility may create friction in bilateral services trade and the technology partnership.
- Excessive protectionism could affect innovation and competitiveness in both economies.
- However, possible reverse migration could strengthen India’s start-ups, research institutions and Global Capability Centres.
Way Forward
- The U.S. should ensure transparent investigation, due process and proportionate penalties, protecting workers not involved in violations.
- Companies must conduct compliance audits and maintain transparent recruitment and wage records.
- India should raise professional mobility through bilateral dialogue while expanding domestic opportunities in advanced technologies.
- Indian IT firms should move towards innovation, high-value consulting and intellectual-property creation.
Conclusion:
Labour-market protection is legitimate, but it must be balanced with procedural fairness and the economic contribution of skilled migration. Predictable mobility rules and stronger domestic innovation can protect workers while preserving the strategic India–US technology partnership.
