Mr. Praful Patel, Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises unveiled “Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2012-2022: Base Document” at the 64th Annual Convention of Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA). The electrical equipment industry faces several challenges which require concerted action by all the stakeholders and policy interventions of the Central and State Governments. It is estimated that the size of the domestic market in generation equipment is expected to reach USD 25-30 billion by 2022 (from USD 5.7 billion in 2011), while that of the T&D equipment industry is estimated to grow to USD 70-75 billion (from USD 18.5 billion in 2011). Therefore, all the stakeholders, government, manufacturers, policy makers and think tanks need to proactively collaborate and take concerted and coordinated action so that the industry can further accelerate its growth process and contribute significantly to reducing the power demand-supply gap in the country. With this objective in view, under the aegis of the Department of Heavy Industry, Government of India, and with support from IEEMA, a Mission Plan 2012-2022 for the electrical equipment industry is being drawn up in consultation with all the key stakeholders.
The Mission Plan 2012-2022 Base Document, prepared by Ernst & Young, will make a number of detailed suggestions for actions to be taken by both the government and industry in order to fulfill the goals laid out in the plan. The government’s responsibility would be to facilitate infrastructure creation, promote the country’s capabilities, create a favourable and predictable business environment, attract investments and promote R&D. The industry’s responsibility would be towards issues such as designing and manufacturing quality products, improving productivity, maintaining costs, among others. The Mission Plan 2012-2022 will take about six months to be ready and will be launched before the start of the 12th Five Year Plan. The Mission Plan 2012-2022 will lay down a clear roadmap for increasing the competitiveness of the domestic electrical equipment sector. Addressing a large gathering of IEEMA members and media, Mr. Praful Patel stressed the need for India to now focus on the next generation of reforms in the power sector specifically the power transmission and distribution sector.
“While the country, post 1991, focused on the power generation sector, the time has come to address concerns over evacuation and distribution of power, such as land acquisition, right-of-way, losses in transmission and distribution of power, including pilferage,” Mr. Praful Patel said. He pointed out that the country needs to find a balance between the needs of a growing economy and environmental preservation. Issues like availability of fuel for power projects, difficulties in land acquisition, escalating imports of electrical equipment, financial state of power distribution utilities, inability to meet targets laid down, etc., are all adversely impacting the state of the domestic electrical equipment manufacturing industry. “This requires a holistic approach as the power sector is critical for the socio-economic development of the nation,” Mr. Praful Patel added. He extolled the electrical equipment industry to upscale the size of its operations and manufacture best quality products at the most affordable prices so that cost-effective power is generated in the country.
