With over 350 units of pump manufacturing units already present in Rajkot, industry experts believe the can be hub of the pump industry in India. Showcasing its capability to act as a hub, the pump industry in Rajkot has been growing at the rate of over 100 per cent.
Moreover, out of 350 units, 30-40 units are large while rests of the units are work as small and medium scale units. "Rajkot has a cluster-based development in pump manufacturing and can soon overtake Ahmedabad. As of now the pump industry is working in an unorganised manner but day by day the industry is getting organised. The city also has potential to beat Coimbatore as production cycle in Rajkot very fast. Even availability of production material is easy and lower labor cost has been one of the major attraction to the city," said Jayesh Patel, Managing Director of Kivi Pump.
The Rajkot pump industry has had a turnover of Rs 800-1,000 crore and the city is third largest pump manufacture city in India after Coimbatore and Ahmedabad. The Rajkot-based 350 pump manufactuing units provide direct employment to the more than 10,000 people and indirect employment to over one lakh people.
The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) is planning to set up a Common Facility Center (CFC) for the growth of pump industry at Rajkot. The centre will provide testing facility of raw material and process, apart from offering R&D facilities here
"We are planning to start CFC at Rajkot as pump industry growing fast in this region. The CFC will provide R&D and testing facility to the small manufacturers of pump. We have begun the planning process for it and have asked for a detail project report (DPR) from the Gujarat Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Limited (GITCO)," said Bharat Dawada, cluster manager of TERI. Meanwhile, according to Kamalnayan Sojitra, Managing Director of Falcon Pump, the industry has been developing at such a pace in the city that it has attracted players from other industries. "Rajkot was well known for diesel engines but now some of the players from diesel engine industry have begun shifting to the pump industry," said Sojitra, who is also one of the members of Rajkot Engineering Association's Pump Committee. According to industry players, while currently there are 350 units active in pump manufacturing, by end of 2012, 100 new units are expected to be added to the number.