IMTMA’s flagship event IMTEX kicks off in Bengaluru
Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ (IMTMA) flagship event and South East Asia’s largest exhibition on metal cutting technologies ‘IMTEX 2017 & Tooltech 2017’ was inaugurated by Shri Siddaramaiah, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, at the Bangalore Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Thursday.
Mr. Girish Shankar, Secretary (HI), Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India; Mr. D.V. Prasad, I.A.S., Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce & Industries Department, Government of Karnataka; and Dr. Naushad Forbes, President, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman – Exhibitions, IMTMA; Mr. P.G. Jadeja, President, IMTMA; Mr. P. Ramadas, Vice President, IMTMA; and Mr. V. Anbu, Director General, IMTMA also presided over the inauguration.
The exhibition is being held from 26 January to 1 February 2017 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) in Bangalore. A new 17,500 square metres Exhibition Hall (Hall 4) was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The exhibition has over 1000 exhibitors in 6 halls covering an exhibition area of around 66,000 square metres. Twenty-two countries including India are participating in the show with 7 group participations from China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and United States. Numerous technologies such as Hybrid machines, 3D printing, Industry 4.0, and many more are being launched and displayed at this edition of IMTEX.
IMTMA is expecting a footfall of around 100,000 visitors during the 7 days event at BIEC. Many decision makers and business heads from across the spectrum of Indian metalworking industry are expected to attend the show.
Inaugurating the exhibition, Karnataka Chief Minister, Shri Siddaramaiah said, “It is well known that machine tools are the backbone of manufacturing and a strong machine tool industry propels strong manufacturing which in turn spurs the economy. Karnataka was the cradle for the machine tool industry which has now grown to produce over 50 percent of Indian machine tool output. Keeping this in view the government along with the industry charted out a plan for developing a machine tool park in the state”. Further commenting on developing proposed machine tool park Hon’ble Chief Minister said, “The proposed machine tool park at Vasantha Narsapur in Tumkur district is a joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka and will come up in a land of 500 acres. Once functional, the park is expected to boost the domestic turnover of machine tools while saving foreign exchange and reducing imports. Furthermore, the park will also create over 4000 jobs in manufacturing and administrative fields.”
Speaking on Indian Capital Goods Policy and its impact on Make in India initiative, DHI Secretary, Mr. Girish Shankar said, “India’s Capital Goods Policy envisages the capital goods to grow from Rs.2.3 lakh crores to Rs. 7.5 lakh crores in 2025. The policy has been formulated with a vision to increase the share of capital goods contribution to the GDP from 12% to 20% of total manufacturing activity by 2025. Our endeavour is to drive growth for capital goods sector and build India as a world class hub for capital goods. This covers critical areas such as increasing the total production, employment, domestic market share, exports, skill availability, technology depth, and SMEs. I am sure these initiatives will lead to strengthening Machine Tool industry and Capital Goods industry. Further commenting on IMTEX 2017, Mr. Shankar said, “I am glad that IMTMA’s flagship event IMTEX supports demonstration of India’s capability in machine tools segment on a massive scale and is a strong enabler of ‘Make in India’.”
“IMTEX is not just for the machine tool manufacturers, but for the entire manufacturing industry of India. The exhibition has a potential to attract investment and provide growth opportunity for the industry in Karnataka. This can happen only when we promote our industries,” said Mr. D. V. Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka.
Mr. Prasad also further stated “Karnataka Government is working on enhancing industrial connectivity in the Chennai-Bengaluru and Bengaluru-Mumbai corridors. The State is supporting the National Investment Manufacturing Zones at key locations which is expected to give added impetus to manufacturing sector and encouraged by the State’s efforts many auto and auto ancillary units have made their base in Karnataka.”
Speaking on IMTEX’s formidable stature in Indian Machine Tools sector Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions – IMTMA said, “two years from now we will be celebrating the 50th year of IMTEX. The main objective of IMTEX is to demonstrate and showcase different manufacturing technologies and innovations to enable the manufacturing companies and industries to take decisions on what they need to meet their current and future requirements.”
“As technology becomes a formidable enabler in manufacturing it is imminent to incorporate it in all aspects of manufacturing,” said Dr. Naushad Forbes, President, CII. “The machine tool sector has huge responsibility and scope to make Indian manufacturing successful and therefore Industry needs to leverage not only its design capabilities but also ICT, Automation, Industry 4.0, as well as innovation,” further added Dr. Forbes.
To further provide impetus to machine tools industry IMTMA is working closely with NITI Aayog and DHI in giving shape to the future technological initiatives and R&D efforts for the machine tool industry.
Speaking on opportunities for machine tools sector Mr. P.G. Jadeja, President IMTMA said, “The Aero-Defence sector presents an attractive growth opportunity. To tap this IMTMA has launched an initiative and formed the Aero-Def Group to bring our members closer to this important customer segment and work out development and marketing strategies.”
The IMTMA-Premier Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in memory of Vinod Doshi was given in the inaugural function. Mr Milind Kelkar and Mrs. Mohini Kelkar, from GrindMaster won the award. On the occasion, IMTMA also released some new publications:
- IMTMA Directory of Members 2017
- Guide to Indian Machine Tools 2017
- Comprehensive Report on Indian Metal Cutting Machine Tools
- IMTEX 2017 Exhibition Catalogue
Several programmes are being held in conjunction with IMTEX 2017. IMTMA and EEPC India with support from the Government of India is organizing a Reverse Buyer Seller Meet. This is an opportunity to connect with importers from 23 countries. The i2 Academia Pavilion, a special pavilion representing Academic and Research institutions from around 40 institutions including 6 IITs from all over India is being held concurrently. Connect, a special forum for imparting knowledge on machine tool industry for young engineers visiting IMTEX is being organised from 27 to 31 January 2017. Students and young engineers interested in building a career in manufacturing will get a chance to know more about the machine tool industry.
Image Courtesy: IMTMA
