When ELECRAMA 2012 opened at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in suburban Mumbai on January 18, 2012, the venue suitably spruced up for the occasion, the festive atmosphere was hard to miss. As Mrs Indra Prem Menon, Chairperson, ELECRAMA, said during the inauguration ceremony, "During the last 20 years ELECRAMA has metamorphosed into a global event that displays domestic capabilities and global aspirations. While the world is trying to cope with negative growth, India is growing and how! ELECRAMA has received 20% more bookings, with more than 350 delegates from Africa, Latin America, CIS and South East Asian countries." If that is indeed the scenario against the backdrop of the government more or less indifferent to the plight of the industry begging for progressive policies and faster decision-making, one can imagine what a proactive government would have achieved. Over 200 transformer manufacturers, 300 global conductor manufacturers and 200 control and system manufacturers were present among the 1300 plus exhibitors assembled for the 5-day event organised by the IEEMA - Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association, the apex association of manufacturers of electrical, industrial electronics and allied equipment in India.

Speaking during the inaugural ceremony, Union Minister of Power Mr Sushilkumar Shinde assured the India Power Equipment Industry of adequate protection. Mr Shinde said that the Indian Power industry is at the cusp of major growth with 80,000 MW of power units under construction. He mentioned that the Prime Minister is keen on resolving present issues in the sector - supply of coal and gas - as the growth in the industry directly impacts the economic progress of the country.

Mr Shinde lauded ELECRAMA's efforts in bringing Indian companies at par with global companies and fostering global trade in the T&D space. He said: "The government is delighted to see exports of high-end T&D equipment from Indian shores. In stark contrast, just a few years ago, we used to import T&D equipment. In other words the Indian manufacturing has come of age and now for them the world is an oyster. This is what the Government's intention was in the first place."

The domestic equipment manufacturing industry has grown substantially to fully meet the domestic power generation demand. The T&D players have the contemporary technology and have established themselves globally. "However, the built-up equipment capacity stands under utilised across several products, as there has been a surge in imports in recent time," said Mr Ramesh Chandak, President IEEMA.

Mr Chandak requested the Union Minister to create a level playing field for domestic electrical manufacturers. "Domestic electrical equipment manufacturing industry is at a substantial disadvantage vis-?-vis imports, which is impacting the commercial viability of the industry and would have long term consequences. T&D is an important part of the power sector. Worldwide the investment in T&D is one-and-a-half time more than power generation. In India, the ratio stands at 1:1," said Mr Chandak.

The Reverse Buyer-Seller Meet (RBSM) that concluded on the penultimate day of the event reportedly had an unprecedented and over whelming response from both international buyers and Indian manufacturers of electrical equipment. The estimated business generated value was over Rs 200 crore and another Rs 500 crore worth of business is in the pipeline.

The event had over 2000 scheduled meetings, countless on the sidelines, arranged between buyers and sellers and saw never before queues of enthusiastic sellers keen to make business contacts with international buyer delegations. Over 300 buyers from over 30 countries from Africa, Latin America, ASEAN and CIS attended this mega RBSM spread over 3 days, held in conjunction with ELECRAMA 2012.

The African delegation was the largest and included buyers from Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. ASEAN buyers were representing Malaysia and Thailand. CIS buyers from Belarus Georgia, Uzbekistan along with Latin American buyers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay thronged the event.

Over 200 Indian sellers represented the India supply side at ChangeXChange event and included major Indian companies such as L&T, Finolex, EMCO, Perfect Controls, Leebo, ERL, Indo Asian Electric, VNS Switchgears, etc. The Indian companies felt that most buyers were keen to source from India and wanted to discuss both product and project supplies.

Mr Ashish Agarwal from Genus Power Infrastructures Ltd felt that the response was excellent and overall the event was well conducted. Mr Krishnamurthy from Perfect Controls opined that they had extremely useful meetings and this was an excellent initiative from IEEMA to conduct such a marathon meet spread over three days. Mr B K Sethi, Senior Vice President Exports, Finolex Cables was confident of receiving substantial orders post meetings and the success of this initiative was seconded by Mr Nitin Jain of Marsons Electricals who expected an order pipeline of over US$ 1 million post these meetings.

Overseas buyers found ELECRAMA -2012 pulsating with activity and were extremely glad to meet several interested sellers at a single platform. Mr Granitsa Evgeniy from STIK Limited, Uzbekistan was all praise about the Indian electrical industry and welcomed Indian companies to visit Tashkent and do more business. African buyers were very enthusiastic and plan to place orders ranging from several hundred to a few million orders. This view was echoed by both Latin American and ASEAN buyers as well. According to Ms Menon, given the fact that Indian exports of electrical equipment are slated for a quantum jump, IEEMA organised the RBSM, in conjunction with ELECRAMA-2012, with the objective of promoting the 'Made-in-India' brand. According to her, with the demand from developed countries stagnating and that from developing nations seeing significant increase, there exists significant potential for India to tap the export markets. Ms Menon profusely thanked the Department of Commerce, Government of India, for their proactive support for organising the RBSM. Mr Chandak stated that currently Indian exports of electrical equipment are over USD 4 billion but comprise less than 1% of global trade of electrical equipment. The Government of India has set a target of doubling exports and reaching USD 450 billion by 2014 from the level of USD 246 billion achieved in 2010-11. In all sectors, including electrical equipment, India needs to move up the value addition chain. IEEMA is targeting a 5% share of global trade in electrical equipment in the next ten years so that exports reach a level of USD 25 billion, according to Chandak.

Buoyed up by such positive sentiments, IEEMA has set an export target US$ 25 billion of electrical and electronics equipment in the next 10 years. Speaking at the Commerce Day on the sidelines earlier during the day, Mr Chandak, said: "The Government of India has set a target of doubling exports and reaching US$ 450 billion by 2014 from the level of US$ 246 billion achieved in 2010-11. Across sectors, including electrical equipment, India needs to move up the value chain."

According to Ms Menon, "India's exports of electrical equipment were over US$ 4 billion in 2010-11, but were less than 1% of the global trade in electrical equipment. With the electricity sector being a sunrise sector across the entire developing world, there exists a significant export potential for the domestic industry."

The Indian electrical equipment industry has a diversified, mature and strong manufacturing base, with robust supply chain, and a rugged performance design of products. There is also an emerging global reputation of Indian electrical equipment for sourcing of base products and components. With the demand from developed countries

stagnating and that from developing nations seeing significant increase, there exists significant potential for India to tap the export markets according to Chandak. Mr Zachary Ayieko, Chief Executive Officer, Rural Electrification Authority of Kenya, in his Special Address, gave an overview of the energy sector in Kenya and the funding for rural electrification, the investment and business opportunities in Kenya and the incentives provided to foreign investors.