Govt Reviews India's Robotics Ecosystem, Eyes National Roadmap For Physical AI

(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, Feb 4 (KNN) The Technology Advisory Group (TAG) constituted under the Empowered Technology Group (ETG) held its third meeting on Tuesday to review India's robotics ecosystem, discuss key challenges and outline a strategic roadmap for advancing robotics and physical AI in the country.

Focus on Advanced Robotics and Indigenisation

In her opening remarks, Dr Preeti Banzal, Adviser/Scientist 'G' at the Office of the PSA, recalled the second TAG meeting held in February 2025 on advanced manufacturing and stressed the importance of prioritising advanced robotic technologies as a national agenda.

Delivering the keynote, Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay Kumar Sood highlighted India's push to build a self-reliant robotics ecosystem through indigenisation, stressing a shift toward robotics that complements human labour.

He flagged priorities such as collaborative robots and physical AI for healthcare, and unmanned and dual-use systems for defence and internal security.

National Strategy and Defence Imperatives

S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), outlined the draft National Strategy on Robotics, developed through inter-ministerial and stakeholder consultations.

He said existing initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission, India Semiconductor Mission, and the electronics manufacturing ecosystem could form the foundation for a future dedicated Robotics Mission.

Emphasising strategic autonomy, Dr Sameer Kamat, Chairman, DRDO, called for indigenisation of critical software, design and simulation tools to achieve software sovereignty. Lt Gen N.S. Raja Subramani (Retd), Military Advisor, NSCS, stated that integration of robotics into India's defence architecture has become a strategic necessity for modern warfare.

Expert Insights from Academia and Industry

The meeting featured detailed presentations from experts across academia and industry. Raghu Dharamaraju, CEO, ARTPARK (IISc Bengaluru), highlighted efforts to translate AI and robotics research into market-ready solutions.

Subir Kumar Saha and Ashutosh Dutt Sharma from IIT Delhi discussed the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems–supported work on collaborative robotics through the I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics.

M. Manivannan, IIT Madras emphasised tactile perception and haptics as a critical layer of embodied AI, calling for a national Tactile Intelligence initiative.

Key Takeaways and Policy Recommendations

Deliberations stressed the need for a coherent policy and incentive framework to boost domestic manufacturing, cut import dependence and enable calibrated public procurement.

Participants highlighted gaps in critical components such as actuators, sensors and chipsets, and called for stronger testing and standards, shared data infrastructure, phased indigenisation, mission-driven R&D, MSME clustering and structured field validation.

Towards a National Robotics Roadmap

Summarising the discussions, Dr Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, the Office of the PSA, highlighted the shift from legacy automation to embodied intelligence and adaptive robotic systems.

She stressed the need for mission-linked grants for startups and MSMEs, unified regulatory frameworks, and globally aligned standards to enable exports.

In his closing remarks, Sood reiterated that a structured approach to robotics would be critical for India's industrial growth, defence preparedness and high-value manufacturing ambitions, urging stakeholders to contribute concrete recommendations towards a national roadmap for robotics and physical AI.

(KNN Bureau)

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