Industry must adopt high-standard products to stop cheaper import
“Once the industry adopts high-standard products, import of cheaper products will be automatically stopped,” said A. M. Naik, Chairman, RM Division, IEEMA
How do you find the status of energy efficiency when it comes to the motor industry in India?Energy-efficiency awareness is becoming popular in the industry. Several big houses like Aditya Birla Group and Tata have adopted it, and other companies are following their footprints.
Is it possible to provide cost efficiency as well as energy efficiency at the same time?When you go for energy-efficient products, input cost will increase. Additional input cost varies between 5-20 per cent, and that increase has to be passed to the industry. Because of saving in the power consumption, the recovery period comes down from 1-2 years to 6-8 months.
What’s your opinion about the existing standard for energy efficient motors? What kind of responses are you getting for the revised standard?The IS12615: 2011 standard for energy efficient motors has undergone revision to be in-line with the global efficiency norms. New standards will help in two ways. First, many manufacturers are going global in India. They are exporting their equipment as well as getting international standard products from the Indian manufacturers, not being dependent on the import of the products. Second, we can stop the cheaper import from the other countries. The imported cheaper products can be harmful to the nation due to higher power consumption and lower energy efficiency. Once the industry adopts high-standard products, import of cheaper products will be automatically stopped.
What role is IEEMA playing in increasing awareness about new standard?IEEMA is creating awareness in the industry, uniting manufacturers so that they adopt the new standards soon and avoid the old ones. For the continuous benefit, we are helping manufacturers to adopt the new standards in-line with international parameters.
IEEMA and ICPCI jointly organised an interactive workshop to create awareness on the revised standard for energy efficient motors. What are your objectives behind this association?Through this association with ICPCI, we aim to educate industrial project consultants and encourage them to adopt the revised standard for energy efficient motors in their technical specifications. There is a need for such workshops to educate industries to develop and create a pull for energy efficiency motors.
The electrical equipment industry has experienced negative growth during the last couple of quarters. What is your perception in the current quarter and how the things are changing? In the third quarter, we will continue to have lower growth than last year. From fourth quarter, the situation will start improving because of CAPEX budget, which will be released by the industry. Fourth quarter may go flat, but the next quarter one should bring growth.
So, 2013-14 will be bright …The coming financial year will not have a bright future, but at least, it will not be negative; it will come in a positive way.
What makes you think like that?With FDI gets clearance, more foreign funds are expected to enter in the country. This brings feel-good factor within the industry.
