Globalization continues to intensify. It is not something new, but every day it is assuming a different meaning. Inspite of the intense nature of globalization, localized consumer cultures reflecting different lifestyles is also becoming predominant. The emerging consumer cultures are increasingly characterized by lifestyles, traditions and cultures.

If we reflect upon this paradox, one thing becomes very clear that companies need to adapt themselves to a fine balance between both. At the same time, the local consumer cultures present a unique opportunity for the companies to differentiate themselves in a commoditized market.

The nature of competition has also changed. Today one cannot compete on product features alone. Even if one does, the advantage is not sustainable. Earlier, companies use the reply on the intuition of the CEO and the experience of the R&D Manager for innovation. The responsibility of innovation stood on the shoulders of R&D supported by marketing departments. In today's times it is simply not enough. For companies to maintain their leadership they need to adopt a holistic approach to innovation backed by structured methods.

Innovation as an activity or as a pursuit is not new. It has been happening in various forms for a very long time, perhaps from the time of evolution of mankind. In this quest for innovation, if something has changed then it is how do we manage innovation. Innovation management is a young and a very important discipline for all of us to pursue. Managing innovation means to manage the interfaces on the development path and to reduce the distance between an idea and its implementation.

This is the area where Design and Design Thinking plays a very crucial role. It binds different internal and external stakeholders within an organization towards a common goal of innovation and also unearths new opportunities to be pursued. Design is a key whether it is to exploit an existing technology or to find meanings of a new technology.

Embracing Design helps companies bring to market, new products more quickly consuming fewer resources, and delivering new solutions that are appreciated by the consumer. The high level of performance in product development allows a company to reduce costs, add a varied product portfolio and respond to changing customer expectations quickly.

The Make in India mission is a pivotal mission. We can achieve the objectives of Make in India mission through a closer coordination between the government policy and the forward-looking private-sector strategies. CII is already catalyzing this and will continue to play an important role in enabling this mission.

In our quest for manufacturing investments we cannot solely rely on technology-intensive industries as they are inherently labor saving which defeats the important purpose of this mission that is to create new jobs. In order to achieve job-creating growth, we will need to place greater emphasis on labor-intensive manufacturing.

We must take proactive steps to connect design with the industry vitality. The seeds are already sown in the form of a National Design Policy. Now it is pertinent to help these sprouts of different initiatives to grow and define India's pre-eminence in the world of brilliant products and services that are sold and traded across the world.

Innovation policies of the Government have consisted of incentivizing investments in science and technology and support to technology transfer. Technology is crucial for national innovation and wealth, but so is design. It is high time that some Government attention is diverted to Design to support companies to better understand the strategic contribution of design for increasing competitiveness.

There are several countries that have embraced design as their future path. Asian economies such as Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Philippines are leading the wave. Each of them have distinctive policies to support and promote design. In India we too have a National Design Policy. Now it is time to strengthen this policy with increased government impetus and financial support.

Design by itself is a small entity and its stakeholders do not have the resources to create a national impact. Hence Government assistance is essential. It is suggested that a new model be evolved which is centered on Government – pull and the design stakeholder – push. The Government could initiate funding backed programs, which thereon are carried forward by Design stakeholders.
The labor-intensive manufacturing and the new product development are at the cornerstone to achieve the goals of Make in India mission through Design. Considering that Design is the major driver for growth and competitiveness, a special tax incentive for manufacturing companies using
design is proposed.

There is an urgent need for the government to introduce an incentive scheme with a view to attracting manufacturing industry to increase their investment in design. As a first step, allowing companies to enjoy tax deduction on their relevant design expenditure would be a feasible option.
The tax incentive should apply to companies of all sectors which undertake in-house design activities or out-sourced design services.

It is suggested that a parliamentary panel be constituted under the leadership of a pragmatic, progressive Member of Parliament with an objective to identify how best to strengthen the relationship between businesses - particularly SMEs - and design. The National Design Policy can become the basis for such a panel. Such an initiative will go a long way to establish steps that the Government and Design Stakeholders should take to ensure that Indian businesses and society harness the power of design.

We must make design and our designers the centrepiece of the India brand. We urge the Government to set the stage for creating a new Indian story based around the design as its protagonist.