Rajkot-based foundry industry is now moving towards automation amid rising manpower shortage. Moreover, the customer demand has prompted the foundry units to go for automation.
According to Rajkot Engineering Association (REA), foundry units in Rajkot have invested more than Rs 50 crore towards automation over the past one year. In addition to this, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is also supporting the foundry industry to upgrade their units.
Rajkot houses about 450-500 foundry units with a turnover of about Rs 1,500 crore per annum.
"During the past two years, more than 25,000 workers have left the job and returned to their home towns in villages. It has, thus, become necessary for us to go for automation," said Brijesh Dudhagara, director of REA and former president of The Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF) - Rajkot chapter.
"Most of the foundry units have gone for automation depending upon their financial conditions. Some units that have capacity for high investments, converted their unit into fully automatic, while others are doing technical changes," added Dudhagara.
Typically, investment worth Rs 20 lakh to Rs 5 crore is needed for automation in foundry units.
TERI is working for energy efficiency for Rajkot-based industry and it has brought Japanese technology for foundry industry. This technology will help industry save energy by 30 per cent.
Bharat Dawada, Cluster Manager of TERI said, "This is the need of the hour for the foundry industry to adopt automation. TERI is working closely to provide knowledge of advanced technology to the foundry units in Rajkot."
TERI has converted about 35 to 40 coal-based foundry units into melting furnish foundry and it has planned to convert additional 35 foundries by 2015.
Dudhagara said, "Finance is a big issue for the foundry industry at Rajkot as most of them are small and medium units and have little financial capacity to go for automation. Despite that we all are doing automation as it is necessary."
