Imports hurting electrical equipment industry: (India’s $25 billion electrical equipment industry is going through its worst phase in a decade due to weak demand and rising Chinese imports. JG Kulkarni, president, Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA), and executive vice-president, Crompton Greaves, talks to Sanjeev Sharma how imports are taking on dangerous proportions affecting employment and the absence of levelplaying field which is making Indian industry non-competitive in its own country.) Q:What has been IEEMA’s performance in the last fiscal? A: Data released by the IEEMA shows that the Rs 1.20 lakh crore Indian electrical equipment industry registered a negative growth of 8% in FY13, first time in 10 years. The worst hit were the cable industry, which registered a de-growth of 26% in FY13 after a 25% slump in FY12, and capacitor industry where the negative growth rose to a massive 24% from 1.8% in FY12. Q: What are the reasons for negative growth? A: Sluggish demand due to the slowdown in the power sector and continuous rise in imports of electrical equipment, especially from China and South Korea, on account of the absence of a levelplaying field in the domestic market has resulted in the Indian electrical equipment industry witnessing a degrowth for the first time in 10 years. Imported electrical equipment has now captured almost 40% of the domestic market. The transmission and distribution equipment industry is working at less than 70% of its production capacity. Q: What are the problems on project execution delays? A: There are multiple reasons for the delay in execution of power projects in India over the past couple of years. Firstly, lack of fuel linkages, especially coal availability, in the domestic market. Problems in obtaining environmental and other statutory clearances and also problems in land acquisition have added to the problem. Further, the financial distress of the power distribution companies have led to the demand for electrical equipment being much less than anticipated. From - "The Tribune" (Continue...)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 15:43:50 +0000
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