3D-printed homes, implants, jewellery: An industry takes shape in India

High equipment costs and shortage of skilled manpower a challenge, despite MeitY push

If you have seen the hit HBO series Westworld, you would remember the haunting visuals of a robotic 3D printer’s arm building fully grown human bodies, sinew by delicate sinew. While fully formed 3D-printed androids may remain a thing of sci-fi fantasies for now, 18-year-old Payal Solanki can testify that 3D printing is indeed changing lives in Indian medicine.

Solanki recently became the first Indian to receive a 3D-printed spine brace from the Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities, Delhi. “The process was quite hassle-free, and not time consuming at all,” she says. The institute did not charge her.

G Pandian, the doctor who conducted the procedure, confirms that “as compared to the traditional process, which involves manual measurements and casting, 3D printing braces and other medical prosthetics are much more accurate and efficient.”

Prosthetics aren’t the only area of healthcare where 3D printing is making inroads. At IIT Hyderabad’s L V Prasad Eye Institute, researchers successfully printed and transplanted an artificial cornea into a rabbit’s eye, making 3D-printed implants a possibility in the future.

Nor is healthcare the only sector. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Panch Pran” declaration on Independence Day, 3D printing is set to receive a massive boost from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in its application across sectors such as automotive, space research and imitation jewellery.

In a recent publication titled “National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing”, MeitY emphasised the government’s push for incorporating 3D printing as a core strategy towards achieving its “Make in India” promises. The publication admitted, however, that compared to global markets such as the United States, Japan, and China, “the adoption of (3D printing) hasn’t seen much traction in India” (see box: “3D printing in numbers”). 

What is 3D printing?

The traditional approach to manufacturing is subtractive, i.e., carving out components or moulds from raw materials like stone, metal, wood, etc. But 3D printing uses what’s often called additive manufacturing (AM): compressing layers of raw materials onto each other in the shape of specific objects.

Somewhat counterintuitively, given its nomenclature, additive manufacturing in fact uses up less raw material, prevents wastage, and saves time, manpower and money.

The basic idea of 3D printing, therefore, is quite enticing. Large structures – including houses, vehicles, and parts of large machinery – can be produced and reproduced at a much-reduced cost, in lesser time, and with more environment-friendly materials. So can be the tiniest of gears and delicate tissues of the human body.

 

New frontiers

So far, AM is primarily used for prototyping, designing, and tooling across sectors like automotive, consumer durables, engineering goods, aerospace, and defence. (Tooling refers to producing small tools like jigs, gauges, moulds, dies, cutting equipment and patterns.) However, market leaders like GE Additive are pushing the envelope on the innovation front.

Alok Nanda, chief technology officer (CTO), GE South Asia, and CEO, GE’s India Technology Centre, mentions the company’s ‘Pacer Edge’ Pathfinder programme with the US Air Force (USAF). Now in its third stage, the 3D programme prints obsolete and out-of-production metal spare parts for replacement and repairment purposes in US warfighters. The programme ultimately aims to develop the USAF’s own metal additive production infrastructure – initially at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.   

Closer home, Noida-headquartered ARK Infosolutions is researching Nano 3D printing and 3D printed electronics to print functional plastic parts to be fitted with circuits. ARK aims to develop these printers for full-scale productions and not just prototypes.

IIT Madras-based start-up Tvasta, meanwhile, grabbed eyeballs when its 3D-printed house – India's first – was inaugurated in April 2021. And earlier this year, Chennai-based space-tech start-up Agnikul Cosmos opened the country’s first factory dedicated to building 3D-printed rocket engines.

Besides these success stories, AM is also fuelling a minor revolution in the jewellery industry.

Imaginarium, one of India’s fastest-growing 3D printing and rapid prototyping companies, has partnered with jewellery giants like PC Jewellers and Titan Industries. It is now 3D printing pieces of jewellery from gold and other precious metals.  

A small beginning has clearly been made, but there are hurdles yet.  

Major challenges

Procurement costs of 3D printing machines and set-ups are high. And these are rooted in the exorbitant excise duties that companies must pay when importing AM equipment for R&D purposes, says Nimesh Soni, national manager of digital manufacturing, ARK Infosolutions.

Industrial printers for additive manufacturing cost upwards of $5,000. Add to this the newly revised goods and services tax (GST) rates. Thus, in India, while plastics or polymer printers cost anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 5 crore, metal 3D printers range from Rs 3 crore to Rs 15 crore.   

Soni says there is a need for more Indian manufacturers to bridge the supply gap.

The low volume of domestically manufactured parts is the prime reason for the sector’s difficulties in scaling up, says Ashit Saxena, business consulting partner, EY India. Lack of proven applications in the Indian environment and low trust in intellectual property rights (IPR) and copyright laws are other reasons, he adds. 3D printing files can be copied widely and very easily.

Most importantly, Saxena highlights an aversion to risk-taking and an absence of investment in new/innovative solutions in this industry. So, the sector also suffers from the lack of skilled manpower, says the MeitY report.

Bani Johri, senior market analyst at International Data Corporation, agrees: “In India, there is certainly a shortage of skilled manpower with experience not just on 3D printers but also in the software involved. Combine this with the pre- and post-processes involved (especially in the case of metal 3D printing) and you’ll find it hard to come across an institution or course that offers training on these skills under one umbrella.”

3D printing in numbers

* In 2019, the global spending on additive manufacturing was close to $13.8 bn, with a growth of 23 per cent per annum, and projected spending of $34.8 bn by 2024, according to the Meity report

* The US leads with a 36% share of the global market. It also leads in global demand at nearly 50%, followed by the UK at 18%

* The Asia-Pacific region commands 28% share of the global market

* China makes up 50% of Asian markets, and 14% of the global markets

* India’s share is a meagre 5% within Asia and 1.4% globally

* India’s 3D printer market is estimated to grow up to $92.34 mn by the end of 2022, $109.27 mn by end of 2023, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.33%, with a revenue forecast of $275.68 mn by 2028 (TechSci Research report)

* Among end-user sectors, the automobile industry is the largest utiliser of additive manufacturing at 21%, followed by consumer electronics (19%), and the medical sector (18%)