The Hindu Business Line : Coimbatore pump industry sees shift in manufacturing

WITH demand from domestic users picking up and the monsoon playing truant for successive seasons, the pump industry here is seeing a gradual shift in its product profile - with the share of submersible pumps increasing at the cost of jet pumps and surface pumpsets, popularly known as monoblock pumpsets.

There is also a greater focus on exports and the industry expects its performance during the current fiscal to nearly be double that of last year.

The manufacturers are also waiting for a positive response from the Union Government and the bankers for inclusion of pump sets in the enhanced package for the agriculture sector announced by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram.

Speaking to Business Line, on the eve of laying down office as the President of Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association (SIEMA), Mr G. Rajendran, said the demand for surface pumps for agriculture purposes had been declining because of scanty rainfall and due to falling water table.

The governments have also not been generous in giving power connection for agriculture purposes. This has resulted in a fall in demand for this pump set from the agriculture sector.

But there has been an increase in demand for submersible pumps from the domestic buyers in view of the robust growth witnessed by the housing sector.

This was despite the fact that submersible pumps were costlier by around 30 per cent compared to the jet pumps and the installation expenses were also higher.

The shift in consumer preference has resulted in the increase in the number of manufacturers producing submersible pumps, according to the data released by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and pertaining to Coimbatore region, he said.

There was more than 50 per cent increase in the number of BIS licence holders producing borewell submersible pump sets in 2004 compared to the previous year - 65 licensees in 2004 against 40 in 2003 with a corresponding increase in BIS marked products - from 1.30 lakh in 2002-03 to 1.95 lakh in 2003-04. There was a similar increase in the production of BIS-marked submersible motors and in the number of BIS-licensed producers.

Surface pump sets used by the agriculture sector took a knock because of declining ground water table.

Mr Rajendran said the number of BIS-marked jet pump sets used by the domestic sector fell by 12 per cent last year and more than 15 per cent of the jet pumps manufacturers have surrendered their BIS licence.

More than 40 per cent of manufacturers of motors used in agriculture pumps have surrendered their BIS licence. He said there has been an improvement on the export front in the last two years. The export turnover of the pump set manufacturers of Coimbatore region edged up to Rs 40 crore in 2003-04 (Rs 30 crore). and he expected exports to touch nearly Rs 75 crore during the current fiscal.

More Stories on : Engineering | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page