There is a project on in Coimbatore to develop smart pumps; there are plans to develop smart control panels for valve industry, there is an industry 4.0 project on, and welding technology centres have been set up.
All these under the efforts of the Union Government to strengthen the capital goods sector, enable the industry make state-of-the-art technology products, and to boost export of high end goods.
Coimbatore is among the major beneficiaries of the scheme to enhance global competitiveness of Indian capital goods sector, launched by the Union Government in 2014. Projects related to machine tools, textile machinery, and pumps are all expected to have a positive impact on the manufacturing units here.
All projects need to be completed in two years so that the technology is new and contemporary. This is a pilot phase of the scheme and 30 projects are on across the country. A clear picture of the results will be known in six months. The actual scheme will be designed based on the results, said Sanjay Chavre, Senior Development Officer of Department of Heavy Industry.
The valve industry has not seen much change on the mechanical side. But actuations and controls have developed and the industry needs to be equipped with these.
According to Karthik Velusamy, vice-president of Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association, small and medium-scale enterprises will benefit from such schemes. They can use the common facilities that will be created. Regarding new products of better technology, most of those products are currently imported and the potential is high even in the domestic market. So, when the smart products are developed, industries will easily adopt and start manufacturing these. What some of the large-scale industries are trying to develop in-house is what the SMEs are trying to do through such schemes and facilities, he said.
The association has taken the lead for the smart pump project and is expected to co-ordinate for the valve industry too.
Reporting by
M. Soundariya Preetha thcbereporting@gmail.com
