Thaindian News

Bangalore, Jan 20 (IANS) South Asia’s largest machine tool exposition got underway Thursday in this tech hub to showcase the latest technological trends and products used by the Indian manufacturing industry.Organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA), the 15th Indian metal-cutting machine tool exhibition (Imtex 2011) at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on the outskirts of the city has attracted 23 countries, including Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Russia and the US to participate for the first time.

The biennial trade fair, being held with Tooltech 2011 as a concurrent show, has over 800 exhibitors displaying about 750 machines valued at Rs.1,400 crore (Rs.14 billion).

Inaugurating the seven-day event, Planning Commission member Arun Maira said manufacturing and machine tools industry played a vital role in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), which was poised to growth at around nine percent per annum.

“India is fast emerging as a global manufacturing hub and trade fairs like Imtex provide an ideal platform to showcase the latest trends in the machine tool sector and a venue for producers and consumers to interact,” Maira told about 1,000 delegates participating in the event.

Association president M. Lokeswara Rao said the focus of the expo was on high-end technology for growth sectors such as defence, aerospace automobile and medical engineering.

“For the first time in India, digital factories with enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages are being introduced in the machine tool industry. Manufacturers will replicate ideal shop floor conditions at the expo for consumers to experience the various machines in working condition,” Rao said.

State-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan, who was the guest of honour for the inaugural occasion, said with Bangalore emerging as a global aerospace engineering hub, advanced technology and manufacturing was essential to make India globally competitive and customer oriented.

“Aviation is a major tool for economic development and Imtex, with its focus on high-end technology will benefit the aerospace sector in India,” said Radhakrishnan.

Godrej & Boyce chairman and managing director Jamshyd N. Godrej said the machine tool industry supported the growth of several strategic sectors and industries in an economy.

“As growth in the machine tool industry is demand driven, it has a huge potential to become a global player by investing in innovation and research and development (R&D) activities,” Godrej, who is also chairman of the IMTMA’s exhibitions, noted.

The association has set a target of compounded annual growth rate of 25 percent for the industry during the next 10 years to achieve a turnover of Rs.23,000 crore by 2020 from the estimated turnover of Rs.3,100 crore this fiscal (2010-11) and Rs.3,870 crore in the ensuing fiscal (2011-12), a growth of 24.8 percent over this fiscal.