Make-in-India initiative seen as growth driver for foundries

With the Central Government’s thrust on the manufacturing sector and the Make-in-India initiative, the Indian foundry industry expects $3 billion of investment in another 10 years to meet the potential demand of 30 million tonnes of castings in the country by then.

President of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen, K. Samaraj, and Chairman of the Southern Region of the institute Nithyanandan Devaraaj told presspersons here on Friday that the current installed capacity is 15 million tonnes and annual production is 10 million tonnes. India is the third largest producer of castings globally. However, in the last two years, there had been hardly any capacity addition as the projected demand was not there. Almost 60 per cent of the casting production in the country is for the automobile sector. Demand from sectors such as oil, infrastructure and mining have also slowed down. In the recent months, there are indications of revival in the automobile sector. Another area of growth that the foundries expect for both, ferrous and non-ferrous castings, are in defence procurement. The industry needs to invest and increase capacity, though it has nearly 50 per cent excess capacity now. It needs to be energy efficient and have skilled manpower. In another couple of years, all medium and large-scale foundries are expected to have sand reclamation plants for reuse of sand, Mr. Samaraj said. The industry also expects consolidation of capacities to some extent. The primary market for Indian casting exports are the U.S. and the European Union. Total casting exports were to the tune of 2.2 billion dollars in 2014-2015 and this year, the industry expects only a marginal increase because the global economy has slowed down. Imports were to the tune of $800 million. Some sectors import castings from Thailand and China. The landing cost of castings from China for specific sectors is 15 per cent to 20 per cent lower than the Indian prices. The Indian foundries have sought anti-dumping duty on some castings imported from China, Mr. Devaraaj said. “We expect the domestic market to be the growth driver for the industry,” Mr. Samaraj added.