New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) About 91 per cent of Indian manufacturers expect digitalisation to fuel growth, quality control, and risk management in 2024, a new report said on Tuesday.

According to the US-based provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies Rockwell Automation, Indian manufacturers recognised the need for digitisation, driven by both internal imperatives -- such as the delicate balance between quality and growth, adoption and integration of new technologies, retention of skilled workers, product quality improvement and client onboarding.

"The report reveals that Indian manufacturing is rapidly evolving and is investing in smart manufacturing technologies to achieve growth, address workforce issues, improve quality control, mitigate cyber risks, and attain sustainability," said Dilip Sawhney, MD, Rockwell Automation India.

"A wider adoption of digital transformation is crucial for India to become a trillion-dollar manufacturing economy -- a vision of the government of India under the Make in India initiative," he added.

The report surveyed over 1,500 manufacturers across 17 of the leading manufacturing countries, including India.

Additionally, the report mentioned that Indian manufacturers are actively improving their network infrastructure and leveraging the multitude of connected hardware devices.

Networking hardware, with an adoption rate of 88 per cent, and production monitoring software solutions, with an adoption rate of 92 per cent, lead the way in technology adoption across various industries in India, according to the report.

Globally, artificial intelligence (AI) ranked as the top capability that manufacturers believe will drive the biggest business outcomes.

About 83 per cent of manufacturers expect to use generative AI (GenAI) in their operations in 2024.

Around 94 per cent of manufacturers plan to maintain or grow their workforce due to smart manufacturing technology adoption, with a heavy focus on repurposing workers to new or different roles or hiring more workers.