An exhibition of textile machinery, accessories, and spares will be held here from June 24 to 27.
Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman Ravi Sam and its deputy chairman S.K. Sundararaman told presspersons here on Friday that the event to be held at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the four days will have 233 exhibitors displaying machinery and accessories in 312 stalls.
The focus this year will be on import substitution. There is a huge demand for electrical, electronics, spares, and components made indigenously.
The exhibition, organised by SIMA, will be a platform for introduction of over 50 products. Business generated at the previous edition of the fair was worth ₹1,000 crore and this year it is expected to be ₹1,500 crore, they added.
The exhibition was not held for the last two years because of COVID-19.
However, the response from the exhibitors this year was immediate and more than 50 % of the stalls were booked within a day, said Mr. Sam.
While 140 exhibitors are from Tamil Nadu, the rest are from other States and a few are also representatives of overseas companies. The fair, for which entry is free, is expected to attract one lakh visitors.
Speaking on the potential for investments, Mr. Sundararaman said a textile mill invests on an average 2.5 % to 3 % of its annual sales turnover in spares and accessories and 4 % to 6 % in modernisation. “For any textile machinery, the waiting period now is at least six months. The demand for textile machinery has shot up,” he pointed out.
With a textile park coming up at Ambattur and a mega textile park at Virudhunagar, investments in the textile sector in Tamil Nadu in the coming months will be high. In the last one year, the spinning mills in the country have invested ₹ 6,000 crore approximately to create new capacities, Mr. Sam said.
Union Minister for Textiles Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the fair on Friday afternoon. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan will also take part in the inaugural. Tamil Nadu Ministers R. Gandhi, V. Senthil Balaji, and Thangam Thennarasu will take part in the valedictory programme to be held on June 26.
Mr. Sam and Mr. Sundararaman also released on Friday a revamped website of the fair (www.simatexfair.org)
