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