Indian welding market: roaring to shine

August 17, 2013 7:40 am

Welding, the only method that can be used in space as well as underwater, will be fuelled by strong growth over the medium and long term
Being the most economical and effective method of joining metals, welding plays a vital role in improving the life of manufactured products. Welding is the only method that can be used in space as well as underwater. The global market of welding industry is expected to grow at a considerable rate throughout the estimated period.
With the increased application of robotics in welding industries, the robot welding segment is predicted to witness double digit growth in the near future. Welding is used in more and more industries, from the tallest skyscraper to the automotive industry. Typically, welding involves human judgment, more so than in any other machine operation.
The Indian welding industry is dominated by the use of manual welding equipment. However, this situation is expected to change as several industries have started demanding automated equipment to support higher productivity.
 
The downward manufacturing growth in almost all the industries and absolutely no push from the government on infrastructure sector is the major roadblock – Milan P.  Supanekar, Owner, Welding Technologies India
Fragmented marketThe Rs. 1,000-crore welding equipment market in India is very fragmented and dominated by low priced local manufacturers of welding transformers and welding rectifiers. Organised sector’s market share of around 45-50 per cent is shared by Esab, Ador, AdorFontech, Memco, Warpp, SigmaWeld, Panasonic, Kemppi, Lincoln, Miller etc. “The competition is expected to become more and more fierce in these segment with international brands putting up their manufacturing facilities in India, and simultaneously Indian major place importing welding inverters from China,” emphasises Nimesh Chinoy, Marketing Director (SigmaWeld), Electronic Devices.
Driving growthIndia is considered as one of the most potential markets for welding products. The welding equipment market is solely proportional to the growth of the fabrication industries, which consist of automobile, construction equipment, transport, power and other core industrial sectors. “While there are ample scopes for the technology improvement segment including automation of welding, other sectors are really struggling to sustain its growth parameter due to present economic and Forex situation in India,” says Subhrajyoti Mukhopadhyay, Managing Director, Automation India Welding Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Negative growthWelding equipment market has been stagnating for last 2 years. In the current financial year, there is no indication of any positive trigger for industry growth. Mr Chinoy adds, “Market is likely to show negative growth of 10-20 per cent. All the growth drivers like decline in GDP, negative growth in manufacturing sector — especially in automobile industry, heavy engineering, ship building and transportation, power sector and infra projects — are the areas of concern and don’t indicate any sign of improvement or positive trigger in coming months.”
 

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