The Hindu Business Line : Strong Indian presence at Hannover Fair

The fair will see the participation of companies from various sectors including automotive, energy, engineering services, research and development, subcontracting, digital processes, micro technology and science and technology (satellite technology, innovations).

Deutsche Messe organises this fair and owns the fair infrastructure, spread across an area of 1,54,796 square metres. About 50 fairs are conducted on this ground every year.

"About eight billion capital comes to this region due to these fairs, through accommodation, shopping and restaurants," said Mr Wolfgang Pech, Senior Vice-President, Deutsche Messe AG.

Partner country status

That India is the partner country in Hannover fair is known. But what is probably not known is the fact that the partner country status is obtained "by invitation" from Germany.

"We invite a country to be our partner in the fair based on demands from our exhibitors, country trade figures, growth rate, political and economic environment," said Mr Pech, adding that they get proposals from several countries wanting to be partners.

He did not wish to share the names of the other countries in race for this year's partnership. Russia, which was the partner country last year, apparently conducted business deals worth 8 billion, said the IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) Trustee, Mr Darshan Singh.

SME segment dominates

The Indian presence is strong, with about 370 Indian companies participating in the fair. Out of these, about 240 are SMEs, said Mr Singh. The large corporates include Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, Gajra Gears, Godrej & Boyce Mfg, Hero Group, Hindalco, Hindustan Composites, Kirloskar Oil Engines, Mahindra Systems and Automotive Technologies, Posco, Reliance Industries Limited, Samtel Color, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Thermax Ltd, TVS Ltd and Vedant.

There is also participation from the State governments of Gujarat, Jharkhand, Orissa and Karnataka, and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation.

IBEF at work

The India branding starts right from the time one enters Hannover.

On the road to the city from the airport, there are huge message boards that display messages such as: India-fastest growing free market democracy, 300 Fortune 500 companies design or manufacture products in India, largest pool of technical and scientific talent and globally benchmarked quality.

The India branding initiative has also given credit to our political leaders for ensuring continuity in the economic arena.

One message board says: 15 years, six governments, 5 prime ministers - one direction.

Did India just beat China?

China has not yet been invited to participate as the partner country at the Hannover fair. Of course, it has also not sought partnership status.

But that could probably be explained by the fact that companies here have had problems with Chinese firms on intellectual property right issues.

"Firms have product piracy problems with Chinese firms - they feel Chinese companies use their technologies and produce cheap copies.

"We hope China would change this behaviour," said Mr Pech, adding that the fair has had problems with Chinese firms showcasing cheap copies in this fair itself.

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