Mehul Lanvers-Shah, Managing Director, Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt Ltd, spoke to Industrial Products Finder about Indian participation at Hannover Messe. Excerpts...

What is the significance of Partner Country status for India at Hannover Messe 2015?

Partner Country India is coming at exactly the right moment, when there is heightened global interest in India following the change of government last year. India will be showcasing itself to the world as a modern, upwardly mobile economic power, while it simultaneously takes advantage of the opportunities offered by Hannover Messe to invest in modern technology to strengthen its domestic economy.

'Make in India' is at the core of India's participation. How will this help, as China continues its own domination in manufacturing?

It is very difficult to draw a time relevant comparison between India and China given the differences on various fronts. As far as I can see, the Indian story is about the indigenous, domestic growth or the slow pace of it. The government's focus is now on increasing the share of manufacturing in the GDP from 15% to 25%. Come to think of it, why manufacture in India when we can import everything, and at competitive prices too? The central point of the entire 'Make in India' campaign is all about ensuring the long term prosperity of the country by creating jobs and acquiring skills, as one of the other pillars of the new government's economic development initiatives is 'Skill India', which is the skill development policy. India is really seeking to collaborate with the German SMEs and borrow from their strength. While Indian SMEs also have proven skills, but with such cooperation with German companies it could be much bigger, better and brighter, and the Indian SME sector emerge stronger. The comparison with China will then become irrelevant, as the growth there is very different and the factors for their growth are different. India's SME led growth would not be as rapid as China but it will be better, and the India story will be more inclusive and hence more sustainable in the long run.

What will be the scale of the Indian participation this year? And the spin-off?

With the Partner Country status, there will be more than three hundred companies participating this year. We have always had more than a hundred companies participating in Hannover Messe from India each year, for the last several years. With this event, our larger objective is that India doubles or even trebles the number of participating companies at Hannover in the next few years. Because from a Smart Factory perspective and the SMEs involved, that can be a real strength. Because if China is the factory of the world, then India has the chance to be the Smart Factory to the world, with our technological strengths. When I was speaking to the former chairman of EEPC India Mr Aman Chaddha recently, he told me about how he has witnessed the Indian technology community evolve over the last three decades from the early 1980s and there is a lot to learn from that, and that EEPC would like to emulate that with Industrie 4.0 and Integrated Industry to make these two communities work together, as there will be no better chance than that, and Hannover Messe is the bedrock of that.

What event within the Hannover Messe attracts the most participation?

Industrial Supply logically would be attracting the most companies from India, but also MDA and Energy - there would be a large number of precision engineering parts and component manufacturers. Most specialised companies would however be present in their respective shows and pavilions. This time, there will also be various Indian agencies - officials and technocrats present at hand to address all the queries related to investing in India, where a potential investor would be able to experience the change in the Indian approach to seeking investments in India, which will be very different to the perception they may have.

Finally, what about the facilities in terms of visa and the shipping of consignments of exhibiting goods and materials?

The German embassy in India and the consulates are very cooperative and the staff is geared to provide all help. If any of your readers wants any information regarding the event and any other thing related to it including visa and other formalities, we at Hannover Milano Fairs India are available to provide all help!

Hannover Milano Fairs India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai. Tel: 022-42369710. Mobile: 098207-17455. Email: mktg@hmf-india.com