As the Indian foundry industry’s key business segment (automotive) struggles for revival, two segments offer a glimmer of hope for foundries.

Railways and defence present a huge business opportunity for the domestic foundry industry. These are looking at import substitutions for a range of products. Also, the cost of procurement comes down with local sourcing.

These two segments also give an opportunity for the foundry units to derisk their business, which is mostly dependent on the automotive industry.

Now, close to 4,500 foundries across the country produce a little over 13 million tonnes of castings every year. While the auto segment consumes about a third of the castings, Railways and Defence account for less than 10 per cent now.

“We see a huge uptake in requirements by the railways. They are very serious about sourcing castings from domestic players. In the upcoming event, they will discuss and showcase their different casting requirements and have a dialogue with MSMEs separately,” Sanjay Shroff, President, The Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF) said here.

The total demand from Railways is estimated at 450,000 to 500,000 tonnes per year (TPA) which is likely to increase by 8-10 per cent, supported mainly by new metro rail projects and other expansion plans.

Similarly, Defence sector will drive demand for high value-added complex castings of special metallurgies for critical applications and the consumption in this segment is estimated at 1-1.2 lakh tonnes a year, which is expected to grow at 15-20 per cent. Defence establishments such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and HVF, Avadi have already evinced interest.

Indian Space Research Organisation is also keen on sourcing intricate castings from domestic units. Though the volumes will be lower, in terms of value it will be significant as they will be high technology products. A 100-tonne foundry in this segment can could offer more value and profitability than a 2,000-tonne foundry in other segments, said Shroff.

In this context, the IIF’s upcoming 68th Indian Foundry Congress 2020, to be held between February 28 and March 1 at the Chennai Trade Centre, is likely to give a much-needed start for foundry units in capturing a new set of orders,

“We have already sold out on spaces. Even the space that was reserved for Chinese participation (which was cancelled due to Coronavirus scare) has also been sold out completely,” said SRV Ramanan, Chairman, Organising Committee, 68th IFC 2020.

The event, an international exhibition on foundry technology, equipment, supplies, services, will bring together major buyers from Railways, Defence & several other sectors to a B2B interaction with Foundries.

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