Machine tools' demand surges

The Indian machine tool industry is dancing with joy as it is witnessing an unprecedented surge in demand due to the growth in the manufacturing sector, courtesy foremost the automobile industry.

The industry witnessed a splurge of order booking in 2004-05, thanks to the increase in domestic demand.

Owing to the increased domestic demand, the machine tool industry has not been able to allocate capacities for exports.

"At present exports account for 6-7 per cent of the industry output. We expect this to grow to 15 per cent in 2-3 years," said Shrinivas G Shirgurkar, former president, Indian Machine Tools Manufacturers Association (IMTMA).

The continuous development and innovation in manufacturing technology, happening, is the prime driver for the machine tools industry as it is the enabler of increasing output, and improving quality and sophistication of that output.

"Rapidly evolving trends in the manufacturing industry necessitate the need for adopting newer and more productive manufacturing solutions with precision, combined with state-of-the-art automation and smart workforce," said C P Raman, president, TVS Motors Company Ltd inaugurating the third international seminar on machine technologies.

He added that the Rs 20,000 crore Indian two-wheeler industry is looking at a potential annual investment of Rs 900 crore in machine tools and manufacturing solutions over the next few years. The 6.5 million unit two-wheeler industry is presently investing Rs 1,000 crore in capital equipment, including 50 per cent in machine tools.

The seminar, organised by IMTMA, will focus on providing inputs for users and manufacturers of metal machine tools with latest solutions that will enhance productivity and provide superior finish to machines components.

The international seminar will focus on five key technology segments "" process technologies, volume production, emerging technologies, manufacturing technologies and enabling technologies. These segments form the bulwark of metal-cutting processes.

"Being an integral sector, growth of the machine tool industry has an immense bearing on the economy, especially the manufacturing industry. It is even more crucial for development of the country's strategic segments like defence, Railways, space and atomic energy," said C P Rangachar, president, IMTMA.

The Indian machine tool industry manufacturers almost the complete range of metal cutting and metal forming machine tools. The products from the Indian basket include both conventional machine tools as well as computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines.

C P Rangachar said although the cascading effect of taxes are gone with introduction of VAT, the 12.5 per cent VAT is too high for a 'mother industry' like machine tools and requested the state government to bring it down to 4 per cent. He said IMTMA is also planning to build a machine tools park in Bangalore.