A round of the exhibition halls and one was greeted with enthusiasm and eagerness born out of the confidence in the exhibits on display at various stalls.

S K Issrani from Ajmer is a government approved A Class contractor based in Ajmer, Rajasthan, and also a manufacturer of current transformers and power transformers. Issrani first visited Elecrama in 2014, when it was held in Bangalore for the first time. He had then visited the exhibition for just two days. “But that was a very fruitful trip because I found a good supplier of magnetic cores of excellent quality also saving 50% on the cost I was then paying,” he told this writer, in a chance meeting at the Bangalore airport, a day prior to the event. This time, Issrani was visiting Elecrama for all five days. “My son insisted that it is too good an opportunity to miss, and the only way to progress is to upgrade with new technologies and better vendors, which is what I expect to find at the exhibition,” he said. That, in a nutshell, captures the essence and importance of this major biennial event, more than anything else this short report can convey.

Elecrama 2016 was inaugurated on the morning of February 13, at the Conference Hall of the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Tumkur Road, in the presence of high profile dignitaries including Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with independent charge for Power, Coal, New & renewable Energy, Govt of India; and D K Shivakumar, Minister of Energy, Government of Karnataka. The audience included the Who’s Who of the global power industry including delegates from several countries and top decision makers from participating companies. Organised under the ambitious theme of ‘World Electricity Forum’, for the first time in the history of the series conducted since 1990, Elecrama 2016 brought together the top decision makers from all states and central government to interact with each other and discuss key challenges and opportunities in the power sector.

Addressing the gathering, Piyush Goyal remarked, “I am truly amazed by the size, scale and spirit of this conference. The event truly embodies the spirit of nationalism, where we in India will make in India, make to truly global standards, and make the best in class cutting edge technology products that will benefit the entire world.” For the record, members of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), the organisers of the event, account for nearly 97% of all power equipment manufactured in the country. These members include multinational companies with manufacturing facilities in India, but a large majority of them are home grown SMEs, indicating the diverse nature of the industry. Among these SMEs are companies that have built high R&D capabilities and are at the forefront of leading edge technologies, with worldwide clientele. Most of these companies were of course present at the event, many also attending the opening ceremony. “Elecrama 2016 should become the front runner of the industry’s engagement with the rest of the world,” said Goyal. As minister in the union government coordinating with the electrical industry among all stake holders including the state governments, Goyal also articulated strongly the vision of Make in India, which is one of the important programmes of the government. “Getting an electricity connection played an important role in the ease-of-doing-business index, where we jumped up by 29 points in terms of getting an electricity connection,” he stated. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises of India, Anand Geete, also visited Elecrama 2016, signifying the importance of the event.

Yet, the fact remains that though India is the world’s third largest producer of electricity after China and the US, about 300 million people in rural areas still do not have access to electricity and the country has one of the smallest per capita electricity consumption in the world. Even urban areas do not have 24x7 electricity supply except a few cities like Mumbai and the Lutyens’ zone of New Delhi.

Referring to this, Babu Babel, President IEEMA, said, “We need investment in the power sector. Investors will be happy to invest in generating plants provided the government makes it easier for them to set up plants, ensure fuel supplies and most importantly, ensures timely payments for what they supply.” With over 1000 exhibitors from 30-plus countries and visitors from over 100, the event has already established a new record in its history of 26 years. “Elecrama has evinced huge interest from across the globe. The government and various ministries have accorded their support which emphasizes the prime role that Elecrama plays in the electrical industry and reinforces the prominence of IEEMA as an association,” said Babel.

A round of the exhibition halls and one was greeted with enthusiasm and eagerness born out of the confidence in the exhibits on display at various stalls. While the independent, professionally managed EPC giant L&T had a huge pavilion right inside the entrance in Hall 1, the other biggies too had similar spaces occupying innovative exhibits. L&T’s Electrical & Automation business unit unveiled a state-of-the-art SCADA solution, SmartComm, on a standardised platform for the seamless integration of Medium Voltage (MV) and Low Voltage (LV) products that go into industry, infrastructure and the building segments. “SmartComm is E&A’s new SCADA-based unified software platform for device communication, integration, data acquisition and management, monitoring and control as well as pre-emptive and predictive data analysis. This single platform integrates all communicable product offerings ranging from digital panel meters through circuit breakers, protection relays, AC drives, soft starters, I/O modules, building electricals and building automation devices and sensors,” said S C Bhargava, Senior Vice President & Head of L&T Electrical & Automation.

‘Smart Your City’, flashed the bright message on the Havell’s pavilion in Hall 3A, an extravaganza in automation from a company that is “Making in India and Powering the World”, long before it became trendy to say so, according to its portal. From household appliances like motors and geysers and fans that can switch on and off at pre-programmed times and solar street lights taking instructions from smartphone using the Internet, and bulbs that can change colour in a million shades and vary the intensity, to high tech switchgear that goes beyond the conventional and enables switchover from mains to standby power without ‘batting an eyelid’, the company had even a smart petrol pump mock-up on display. If switching on/off the streetlights is a hassle, Havell’s has a solution to make it hassle free and soon, the company will also venture into rooftop solar solutions for households – the Internet of Things was explained in the simplest terms to the lay visitor.

It is not just one company, and not just the biggies. A new kid on the block in the form of a young entrepreneur Vikram Vanigota of Biocon Electric India impressed the visitors with his small booth done up innovatively making use of all the available space, displaying switchgear, LED lamps and units and even the good old insulation tapes, which is how the older generation had begun the entrepreneurial journey before he inherited the mantle. No wonder he has Havells as the role model, a company that had begun its journey similarly with a school teacher coming to Delhi to get into the trading of electrical cables.

One of the most notable displays was at the Omron Automation booth, in the form of FORPHEUS – the Ping Pong Robot is a practical manifestation of the concept of “harmony between humans and machines”. Designed on Omron’s core technology of “Sensing & Control + Think”, the robot plays ping-pong not only with greater accuracy but also returns the ball to allow its partner a longer rally – that is setting in place a harmony and not competition. Describing Omron Automation as ‘Enablers of Make in India’, Mr Sameer Gandhi, MD, Omron Automation India said, “Our efforts to position Omron as an ‘automation partner providing end-to-end solutions’ have been yielding significant results owing to which we have been able to strengthen our share in many segments such as packaging, textile, automotive, FMCG, material handling, pharmaceuticals to name just a few. Moving ahead, we aim to progress in the digital segment too.” Omron’s extensive range of sensing and control technology based solutions – more than 30,000 variants – spread across industrial components, automation systems, sensing and safety, motion and drives, robots and software have been helping manufacturers in the form of efficiency, productivity, flexibility, accuracy and safety as they scale up the value chain. “We have recently introduced the futuristic concept of IoT (Internet of Things) to expand their horizon and help them develop smarter machines based on the concept of ‘i 3’ – ‘Integrated, Intelligent and Interactive’” Gandhi added.

Most large players in the control and switchgear segment have latched on to the government’s Smart Cities initiative. Schneider Electric had a model of the “Smart Grid” – which automates, connects and saves energy for a variety of sectors, from electrical distribution to water management to emergency service, in short, the smart city. The company introduced over 18 products with clear focus on the energy and automation industries. Summing up the five-day event, Anil Chaudhry, Country President and Managing Director, Schneider Electric India, said, “At a time when India’s power sector is undergoing a paradigm shift, a lot of importance is being given to the development of renewable energy, the country needs to be ready to make use of this opportunity leading to a clean future. Schneider Electric, with its core technological competency in energy management, automation and smart metering, is all set to be a part of this growth story.”

So did S K Issrani find anything useful at Elecrama 2016? Well, in the hustle bustle of the five-day event and amidst the crowds milling around the exhibition halls, this writer did not meet Issrani again, but then it is really not about one man’s experience. The overwhelming feeling one got was this was an event worth a visit to anyone connected with the world of electricity in professional capacity.