New Delhi, Jan. 20 -- India is planning a massive digital upgrade of its micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as part of a broader push to align domestic manufacturing with global quality, and sustainability standards, in a move aimed at improving export competitiveness and reducing shipment rejections.

The government is working on an ambitious plan to help 72 million MSMEs meet stricter compliance and export-market requirements on machine-level data, traceability and energy efficiency by equipping them with essential digital factory tools such as machine monitoring, energy management systems and shop-floor software, three people directly involved in the process said.

The first pilot to use sensors, data analytics, automation and...