India has moved up from being the eighth largest castings manufacturer to the fifth largest and is projected to become the third largest by 2010.

Asked whether the downturn being witnessed by the industry was only a passing phenomenon, Mr Swaminathan said when the power situation improves and the economy revives, the foundry industry would be on a growth path again since the foundry sector is key to the growth of the manufacturing industries such as automobile, machinery manufacture, earth moving equipments etc.

He said before the global recession, prices of important commodities required by the foundry sector such as steel, pig iron, iron scrap etc were frequently going up but the recession has resulted in their prices crashing. While this has provided a temporary relief, once the economy revives, the prices should continue to be low. While the price increase had been around 200 per cent, the price decline has been only about 20-25 per cent. Since the Coimbatore foundries have a reputation for quality and for meeting delivery schedules, they get orders from all over the country.

But the multiple problems faced by the foundry industries in Tamil Nadu had led to a near 20 per cent lay off. Since the foundry sector is power intensive and is a continuous process industry, the units could not use generators and could not suffer interruption in production. Many foundries have held back on their investment plans due to tough and uncertain market conditions and the banks also seem to be cautious in lending.

Mr Samaraj said the CII is holding the ‘National Foundry Conclave ’08’ at Coimbatore on December 4 and 5, at which experts would speak on using LPG as a fuel to run furnaces that would be environment friendly and help save fuel. Mr C.N. Ashok, Chairman, CII Coimbatore Zone, said nearly 300 delegates are expected to participate in the two-day meet, in which separate sessions on foundry inputs, energy, environmental issues, technology and best practices, have been planned.