‘IMTEX FORMING 2018’ Begins in Bangalore

Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ (IMTMA) flagship event and South East Asia’s largest exhibition on metal forming technologies ‘IMTEX FORMING 2018 & Tooltech 2018’ was inaugurated today at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bangalore by Shri R. V. Deshpande, Hon’ble Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka. Other dignitaries included Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar, Former Chairman of ISRO and Mr. Nirmal K. Minda, President - Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).  Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman - Exhibitions, IMTMA, Mr. P. Ramadas, President, IMTMA and Mr. V. Anbu, Director General & CEO, IMTMA also presided over the inauguration.

The exhibition is being held from 25 to 30 January 2018 at BIEC. The exhibition features over 500 exhibitors in 3 halls covering a gross exhibition area of around 33,000 square metres. Twenty-three countries including India are participating in the show with group participations from three country-group pavilions: China, Taiwan and Germany. Technologies on display at the exhibition include robotics and automation, welding and joining, wire-forming and drawing, presses, die casting, hydro forming, sheet metal forming machines, presses for applications, die and moulds, and hydraulic and pneumatic systems and elements.

Nearly 40,000 visitors from around 60 countries are expected to visit the show in the next 6 days. Around 100 business delegations from public and private sector representing various manufacturing industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, railways, power, capital goods, general engineering, medical engineering, and so on are expected to visit the exhibition.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Shri R.V. Deshpande called upon the industry to invest in Karnataka. He said that Karnataka is the most preferred state for investment. Karnataka was the first state to bring a start-up policy and is the only state in India to have an electrical vehicle policy. The state has been in the forefront of supporting the manufacturing sector and it has successfully created 12,61,000 jobs and over 5,00,000 jobs are in pipeline. Mr. Deshpande also spoke about the machine tool park in Tumakuru being jointly developed by the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka. The park is being developed as a model industrial cluster with all infrastructure facilities for SMEs, he added.

Speaking on Indian manufacturing industry Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar, Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor and Former Chairman of ISRO said that the polar satellite launch vehicles developed by ISRO is being indigenously manufactured with support from Indian companies and ISRO is also releasing the lithium-ion batteries which could be adopted in the automotive sector. This could revolutionize the Indian manufacturing landscape.

Voicing about IMTEX’s formidable stature in Indian machine tools sector, Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions - IMTMA said the popularity of the show can be gauged from the tremendous response and enthusiasm shown by exhibitors and visitors and we are optimistic that the show will grow in stature in years to come.

IMTMA President Mr. P. Ramadas stated, “Indian machine tool industry registered an impressive growth rate of 23 per cent during 2016-17. Indian machine tool industry is expected to grow by around 20 per cent during 2017-18 and Indian metal forming industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 15 per cent in the next 3 years.”

Addressing the audience at inaugural session Nirmal K Minda, President ACMA said machine tool is the backbone of manufacturing industry and contributes immensely towards its development. ACMA and IMTMA have been working closely towards addressing the growing needs of the automotive component manufacturers and shall continue to do so in the years to come. Speaking further on government support Mr. Minda said Government of India’s Auto Mission Plan (AMP) 2016-26  aims to make automobile manufacturing the main driver of ‘Make in India’ initiative as  passenger vehicles market is likely to triple to 9.4 million units by 2026 creating tremendous opportunity for machine tool industry.

Concluding the session was a special video message from Minister of Commerce and Industry Mr. Suresh Prabhu said that Government of India will extend full support to take the machine tools industry in the country to the next level.

Several programmes are being held in conjunction with IMTEX FORMING 2018. i2 (Industry-Institution) Academia Pavilion features R&D Projects on manufacturing from 44 institutions representing from all over India.  ‘Connect’, an awareness programme to impart knowledge on the machine tool industry to young engineers, will be held between January 26 and 29, during the exhibition. A ‘Reverse International Buyer-Seller Meet’ will be held between January 26 and 29. Potential buyers of from 10 countries will be visiting the show to explore business opportunities.