India’s manufacturing industry eyeing a USD 1 trillion valuation by 2025-26, automation is transforming industries using robotics, AI, and IoT, improving efficiency by as much as 20%, according to a 2024 CII report. However, with 110 million people employed in manufacturing, job loss fears hang over the industry. Walking a tightrope between employment and automation is imperative to maintain India’s economic growth, experts opine. Automation powers productivity. Tata Motors’ robotic production lines in Pune reduce production time by 15%, and textile units in Coimbatore employ IoT sensors to minimize errors, saving millions every year. The USD 27 billion scheme of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) powers adoption of technology, enabling companies such as Siemens India, which rolled out AI solutions in 2025, to compete on a global scale. These developments enable India to reach its export target of USD 776.68 billion, according to Invest India. But automation poses a threat to employment, particularly for low-skilled workers. A 2023 Ficci report calculates that 10-15% of mundane jobs, such as assembly, can be automated by 2030, affecting MSMEs in clusters like Ludhiana. Women, who account for 18.9% of employees, are more vulnerable in employment-intensive industries like textiles. Antagonism towards technology usage is prevalent, and 60% of MSMEs mention job protection as a reason for not adopting technology, according to Nasscom. The answer is job creation and reskilling. Automation generates high-skilled jobs—L&T’s Hyderabad plant employed 500 AI-skilled engineers in 2024. Skill India reskills 10,000 employees every month in data analytics and robotics, and the Digital MSME Scheme provides subsidies for technology upgrades, incentivizing companies to upskill and not lay off employees. Companies like Rockwell Automation India focus on human-machine collaboration, utilizing cobots to augment and not replace jobs. Government policies assist. PM Gati Shakti Plan enhances industrial centers such as Bhubaneswar, generating 50,000 jobs in 2024. PLI schemes are expected to create 1 crore jobs by 2026, countering the impact of automation. MSMEs in Rajkot share computer software, saving jobs while increasing production by 18%. Industry managers emphasize phased automation—beginning with inexpensive sensors—to smooth over transitions. The stakes are high. Balanced automation would contribute USD 770 billion to GDP by 2030, according to McKinsey, but uncontrolled job losses threaten social unrest. “Automation needs to empower, not replace,” noted Priya Menon, a CII analyst. With FDI at USD 17.96 billion in FY23-24, India can make investments in skills and technology to align growth and employment.