NEW DELHI : The government is considering overhauling India’s patent rules to spur innovation and research and development (R&D), union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal said, as he sought suggestions from industry and stakeholders to revamp the country’s legal framework. “We are looking to improvise on the patent laws so that we can invite more R&D, more research, more innovation to India," Goyal said at the ‘Mint Zetwerk Smart Manufacturing Summit 2023 on Thursday. TRENDING STORIES See All Premium Horoscope Today: Money astrological predictions for 3rd . . . Premium NBFCs plan early redemption of bonds Premium AI geeks poised to get up to 115% pay hike as demand fo . . . Premium P&G to bring more health and wellness products He noted that companies faced some issues related to data localization and patent laws and said “the government is working on sorting out these problems on a real-time basis". The focus on patents and innovation is part of a broader government push to attract investments and position India as a hub for research and development as well as manufacturing. India has been striving to attract manufacturing investments as western companies seek to diversify their production bases and reduce their reliance on China after the pandemic disrupted global supply chain networks. India has been offering production-linked incentives (PLI) to encourage companies to make in India. Noting that India can be a global manufacturing hub, the minister stressed the need to produce high-quality products and urged manufacturers not to compromise on quality. “If we pledge that we will focus on quality, it will transform manufacturing in the country," he said, adding the conventional approach of labelling products as ‘export quality’ should be shunned, as all products should be of good quality. With its focus on ensuring the production of quality products, the centre is also looking at setting up testing centres across the country. “We are also looking at better testing infrastructure across the country. Our idea is that wherever there is an industrial cluster of a certain industry, we should ensure that there are testing facilities which are modern and contemporary to be available for the industry over there. BIS and FSSAI have been mandated for this work. First, we have mapped all the lap facilities, put that on Gati Shakti, and now are finding the gaps. Currently, gap analysis is going on across the country. " MINT PREMIUM See All Premium AI geeks poised to get up to 115% pay hike as demand fo . . . Premium Why urban India is turning frugal Premium Prepare for a deluge of clever tools spawned by generat . . . Premium The macro-economic landscape has changed over the last . . . Outlining the government’s initiatives to encourage manufacturing activity in the country, Goyal said that four industrial parks are coming up to manufacture in the plug-and-play model, and many more are in the pipeline. Noting that several schemes to support manufacturing, including PLI schemes, are underway, Goyal said, “many more (schemes) we are introducing in the next few months". Around 13 PLI schemes have been announced, and a few more, including incentive schemes for petrochemicals, green hydrogen, electrolyzers, leather products, footwear and toys, are expected to be rolled out soon. On the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) vision of the government, he said that the defence sector, which was largely catered through imports, is now turning towards indigenous products, and India is becoming more and more self-reliant in the defence sector. He also said that through the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, India not only aims to become self-reliant, but also makes other countries rely on its products. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rituraj Baruah Rituraj Baruah is a senior correspondent at Mint, reporting on housing, urban affairs, small businesses and energy. He has reported on diverse sectors over the last six years including, commodities and stocks market, insolvency and real estate. He has previous stints at Cogencis Information Services, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) and Inc42. Read more from this author Catch all the Corporate news and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News . More Less OPEN IN APP.