Lack of demand hits Rajkot machine tools industry

The business of the machine tools industry in Rajkot has declined 40-45 per cent in the past couple of years, thanks to prolonged economic slowdown, coupled with lack of new projects and expansion in industries across sectors.

The Rajkot-based cluster, the market leader in conventional machine tools with a 70 per cent market share, is now projecting a turnover of merely Rs 800 crore for 2015-16 as against a high of Rs 1,400 crore in 2012-13.

According to the industry, machine tools being capital goods for several industries, the weak economic scenario across India has led to its fall in recent times.
 

"Machine tools are capital goods for all industries. However, a prolonged slowdown has meant that since last couple of years, expansion or new projects have been drying up across several industries in India. This has had a cascading effect on the Rajkot-based machine tools where order books are thinning and business has dwindled," said Dinesh Khambhayta, president of Machine Tools Manufacturers Association (MTMA), Rajkot.

While it is a market leader in conventional machine tools, in terms of CNC machine tools industry, Rajkot is the second largest producer in India after Bengaluru. The Rajkot cluster is known for conventional (semi-automatic) machine tools which are mainly used in small and medium industries.

Demand for machine tools industries in Rajkot mostly comes from parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and South India.

BREAKDOWN

• Business has decreased 45 per cent due to slowdown
• Poor demand for capital goods, as no expansion or  new projects
• The industry’s turnover fell Rs 600 cr in the past three years
• The industry decreased working hours to reduce costs
• Import of second hand machines tools also hurt the industry
• There are over 400 machine tools manufacturers in Rajkot
• Nearly 90 per cent SME units
• Rajkot has about 70 per cent market share in the conventional machine tools market

"Like other industries, the 'Make in India' programme does not seem to be bearing fruits for the machine tools industry in Rajkot. While CNC machine tools clusters have some orders, the conventional side has been dull. This has also resulted in lack of any new investment in the industry. No one wants to take risk in this scenario," said Rupesh Mehta, managing director of Macpower CNC Machines Private Limited.

The cluster has been making efforts to beat the slowdown impact. Last year, the industry reduced prices of products to boost demand in the domestic market. However, the move was met with fierce competition in the form of cheaper imports of machine tools from countries such as Germany and France.

"Imports of second hand conventional machines have gone up in India, which have hurt business for the cluster. Prices of imported machines have been nearly 20 per cent cheaper than their Indian counterparts," said Raju Bhanderi, director of MTMA.

There are about 400 units of machine tools in Rajkot. Of these, 90 per cent are small and medium scale manufactures.

Several manufacturers have started cutting working hours from eight to five hours a day to reduce costs.