India’s robotics market may quadruple by 2030

BENGALURU: India’s robotics market could more than quadruple to $4.6 billion by 2030 from $1.1 billion in 2025, helped by growing demand for warehouse automation from e-commerce and quick commerce, according to Avendus Capital.The expansion, however, rests heavily on foreign hardware. Imports account for 85-90% of robotic component value, including sensors, motors and precision parts, the investment bank’s report said.Avendus identified warehouse and logistics automation as India’s strongest robotics opportunity. Domestic companies are building systems that combine machines with software to move, store and sort goods, with Indian platforms already being deployed overseas.Rising wages are also making automation easier to justify. Payback periods for lower-cost automation have shortened to about 1.5-2 years, compared with several years a decade ago, the report added.India’s opportunity lies in integrating these systems into customers’ operations and deploying them repeatedly across locations. That gives companies scope to build businesses even as a domestic component ecosystem develops.Replacing imported hardware will take longer. Precision components require manufacturing consistency, reliability and lengthy customer approvals, capabilities that established Japanese and German suppliers have built over decades. Avendus expects localisation to proceed component by component.The next commercial test for Indian warehouse automation companies is winning repeat contracts across multiple overseas sites. Those orders would demonstrate that businesses can expand beyond individual projects and turn their early deployments into recurring demand, the report said.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.