For decades, jugaad, India's celebrated knack for frugal improvisation, has been romanticised as a symbol of ingenuity and Indian creativity. It has produced clever fixes, grassroots innovations and occasionally breakthrough ideas. But in the unforgiving arena of global manufacturing, jugaad is no longer a strength.
India today stands at a critical inflection point. Global buyers are not charmed by improvisation. They demand zero defect, reliability and consistency. Without these, 'Made in India' will never command the premium trust that global supply chains require.
India's performance on competitiveness and innovation underscores the urgency of this shift. In World Competitiveness Index 2025, India ranks 41st out of 69 economies, far behind China (5th) and the US (1st). In Global Innovation Index 2025, India is placed 38th out of 139 economies, leading South Asia but trailing innovation leaders like Switzerland, Sweden and the US.
The paradox is stark: India excels in ICT exports and startup valuations, yet struggles to embed quality and reliability into manufacturing at scale. R&D expenditure remains at 0.65% of GDP, far below the OECD average of 2.5%. Quality infrastructure exists - India ranks 5th globally in standards and certification systems - but adoption is uneven, especially among MSMEs.
Global buyers demand three non-negotiables: zero defect, reliability and consistency. India's ingenuity is there. It has powered startups, grassroots solutions and adaptive resilience in resource constrained environments. Yet, ingenuity must now be transfigured into precision, reliability and design excellence - embedded into robust systems, protecting IP and ensuring consistency across every production line.
Improvised fixes, by definition, tolerate compromise. They prize speed over robustness, improvisation over discipline. These won't do.
Trust deficit: Supply chain partners expect IP protection, process discipline and first-time-right execution. Jugaad signals the opposite.
Cost of inconsistency: Defects erode margins, delay shipments and damage brand credibility.
Barrier to scale: Improvised fixes cannot sustain the rigour of Industry 4.0, AI-driven manufacturing or global certification regimes.
The world is moving toward precision manufacturing ecosystems where reliability is the currency of trust. India can't afford to be seen as the land of clever hacks when competitors are building reputations on uncompromising quality. India must consciously retire the jugaad narrative and replace it with one centred on precision, reliability and design excellence.
This is about elevating ingenuity. Robustness comes from 'first time right, always right'. Only then will global buyers label 'Made in India' as sought after.
Policymakers must incentivise precision infrastructure - testing labs, certification systems and R&D spending. Industry leaders must champion zero-defect cultures, embedding structured, measurable improvement across boardrooms and shop floors. MSMEs, which form the backbone of India's industrial ecosystem, must embrace scalable frameworks that move them from diagnosis to direction, from improvisation to excellence.
During Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) MSME Symposium held in Chennai in March, captains of industry highlighted how strong MSME ecosystems have driven industrial success for countries like Japan, China, South Korea and Germany. They stressed upon adopting a cluster-based approach as a scalable solution that can become a 'force multiplier', enabling wider outreach and localised impact.
Large enterprises and MSMEs must recognise that quality transformation is not a segmented agenda but a shared national mission. India's industrial future depends on the symbiosis between scale and agility: large corporations bring global exposure, capital and process discipline, while MSMEs contribute resilience, flexibility and employment depth. When these two ends of the spectrum collaborate - through supply chain integration, shared learning platforms and joint capability-building - the result is a multiplier effect. Together, they can embed zero-defect cultures, accelerate innovation adoption and elevate the India story.
Only when leaders champion precision over jugaad will India create waves of change, embedding process discipline as the true hallmark of 'Made in India'.
The writer is chairman, Bosch
