Vilasrao Deshmukh has urged the Indian Electrical to gear up to meet the challenges emerging from the massive power sector development programs of the Govt. of India.  Speaking as the Chief Guest on the occasion of Industry Day at ELECRAMA, Deshmukh said “The existing power deficit and rising demand has necessitated a large scale capacity addition. The Central Government intends to spend Rs. 500 billion and Rs. 280 billion on the Restructured Accelerated Power Development Reform Program and the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojna.

The macro story of the power sector provides the assurance of long-term growth which has attracted foreign investors to our country. It is therefore necessary for Indian manufacturers to dramatically improve productivity, efficiency of our operations and be innovative too. Forums like ELECRAMA 2010 will encourage cooperation amongst industry stakeholders which will lead to a strong competitive Indian manufacturing industry. He assured the domestic manufacturing industry of all possible support from the Dept. of Heavy Industries in resolving issues critically impacting the growth of this key infrastructure industry.

The major highlight of the occasion was the release of the first Indian Electrical Manufacturing Industry Report by Hon’ble Minister. The Report, brought out by IEEMA in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers aims at showcasing the achievements and the challenges that the Indian Industry is facing in the wake of the massive growth targeted for the power sector.

The Occasion was also addressed by S.N. Dash, Secretary DHI, B.P. Rao, CMD BHEL,  IEEMA president, Murali Venkatraman and Raj Eswaran, Chairman of the ELECRAMA 2010 Committee. There was a presentation on the Report by Kameshwar Rao, Executive Director PWC.  The addresses highlighted some major issues seriously impacting the domestic Electrical industry, major ones being overcapacity, non uniformity of standards, lack of adequate testing facilities for EHV equipment, availability of technical manpower and competition from foreign manufacturers, particularly from China. The issue of mandatory BIS certification for CRGO steel was also flagged as a major issue that is awaiting immediate resolution with the Government.

The objective of this special platform was to highlight the Indian manufacturing skills and project the same to the international counterparts. As India surely and steadily makes its progress towards an increasingly stable economic growth scenario the role of the Indian Manufacturing sector is emerging as a crucial success factor. The recent statistics for production grew at a two-year high 11.7% in November 2009, thereby putting India on track to achieve 8% economic growth in the current financial year. Industry Day as a platform underlined the partnership of the Industry and the Ministry in creating a level playing field which will further facilitate the competitive advantage of the Indian industry to show results and drive the power sector. 

Promoting the Made in Indian Brand is one of IEEMA’s major thrust areas, which has received support of the Department of Heavy Industries.