“Opportunities for new domestic manufacturers should be given by reforming the tendering process to increase transparency and speed,” says Babu Babel, President IEEMA
Overview of Indian power sectorCommenting on recent performance of Indian power sector, Babu Babel, President IEEMA observes that there has been an overall increase in power generation by 8.4 per cent since last year. “The government had done well to untangle supply side issues by augmenting coal supply as well as taken efforts to boost transmission and distribution,” Babel observes.
The government’s “Make in India” is perhaps one of the most important programmes being pursued by the Indian government. The central theme is about transforming India into a manufacturing hub with world-class technology.
Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), the apex association of the Indian electrical equipment manufacturing industry, is a partner of the ‘Make in India’ campaign has identified a 4-point agenda and has been vigorously pursuing with the policy makers, so as to positively impact made in India products with state-of-the-art technology, Babel informs.
Moreover the electrical equipment manufacturing technology is witnessing significant modernisation while new technology is also being adopted in the manufacturing processes. Technological advancements, like smart grids and policies on emission reduction will influence the future direction taken by the power sector and electrical equipment industry in various countries.
The bottlenecksThe complexities in acquiring multiple approvals for primary resources like infrastructure, land acquisition, construction power and disproportionate level of details sought with applications are among the major difficulties in the implementation of projects. These delays have a cascading effect on the capacity utilisation and growth of the BTG and T&D equipment industries, observes Babel.
He also opines that the electrical equipment industry will make the necessary investment to cater to the 12th and 13th Plan projected capacities to meet the demand of generation, transmission and distribution sector. “Timely completion of generation projects is extremely important for the healthy growth of the electrical equipment industry and in turn overall growth of the country,” he says.
Level up global competitivenessExplaining on the immediate short term strategies to revitalise the sector, Babel suggests that strategies for competiveness for India has become need of the hour. He says, “India experienced controlled economy till 1990 and then liberised one. Lowering the tariff barriers in domestic market has unleashed growing competition. This situation forced the domestic market to become competitive to earn sufficient foreign exchange to pay off our import requirements. Only way we can stay afloat is by creating competitive edge.”
Therefore, he suggests, “We should seriously think as to how we can create competitive edge over the global players in terms of technology, product quality, process innovation, value engineering and so on. Acquiring customers and access the markets which constitute future profitable growth from anywhere on the globe calls for enhancing competitiveness. A major precondition for competitiveness enhancement is the availability of skilled labour.”
The constant changing conditions of international markets force the stiff conditions that the nations have to face. Therefore innovation is the key to the competitive advantages for the country, he says.
Raising opportunities for domestic manufacturers The power sector in India is expected to offer tremendous opportunities to players as the demand for power is expected to increase exponentially to 9,50,000 MW by 2030. It is projected that 76 per cent of the total expected investments of $ 1,250 billion in the energy sector will go to power generation, distribution and transmission by the end of this period.
While briefing on long term measures to ensure sustainability, Babel suggests, “In order to stimulate demand for the domestic electrical equipment industry, we think the government should provide a level playing field for Indian manufacturers to compete with imported equipment in the domestic market. There is an urgent need to improve fund availability to the power sector and provide fuel linkages and faster regulatory clearances for timely completion of power projects.”
Model procurement guidelines for utilities with standardised and fair contract terms and conditions, should be framed. Due weightage should be given to the entire lifecycle cost of a product while evaluating the bids. “Opportunities for new domestic manufacturers should be given by reforming the tendering process to increase transparency and speed,” adds Babel.
Reviving the T&D sectorWhen asked about long-and-short term strategies, Babel states, “The key objective is to create a collaborative approach all around to help deliver the key priorities mentioned earlier. There is a general mood around the country to focus on economic growth. However we live in a turbulent global economic environment and therefore need to be very careful with our expectations. T&D sector revival is going to be the main focus.” 

“Opportunities for new domestic manufacturers should be given by reforming the tendering process to increase transparency and speed,” says Babu Babel, President IEEMA
Overview of Indian power sectorCommenting on recent performance of Indian power sector, Babu Babel, President IEEMA observes that there has been an overall increase in power generation by 8.4 per cent since last year. “The government had done well to untangle supply side issues by augmenting coal supply as well as taken efforts to boost transmission and distribution,” Babel observes.
The government’s “Make in India” is perhaps one of the most important programmes being pursued by the Indian government. The central theme is about transforming India into a manufacturing hub with world-class technology.
Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), the apex association of the Indian electrical equipment manufacturing industry, is a partner of the ‘Make in India’ campaign has identified a 4-point agenda and has been vigorously pursuing with the policy makers, so as to positively impact made in India products with state-of-the-art technology, Babel informs.
Moreover the electrical equipment manufacturing technology is witnessing significant modernisation while new technology is also being adopted in the manufacturing processes. Technological advancements, like smart grids and policies on emission reduction will influence the future direction taken by the power sector and electrical equipment industry in various countries.
The bottlenecksThe complexities in acquiring multiple approvals for primary resources like infrastructure, land acquisition, construction power and disproportionate level of details sought with applications are among the major difficulties in the implementation of projects. These delays have a cascading effect on the capacity utilisation and growth of the BTG and T&D equipment industries, observes Babel.
He also opines that the electrical equipment industry will make the necessary investment to cater to the 12th and 13th Plan projected capacities to meet the demand of generation, transmission and distribution sector. “Timely completion of generation projects is extremely important for the healthy growth of the electrical equipment industry and in turn overall growth of the country,” he says.
Level up global competitivenessExplaining on the immediate short term strategies to revitalise the sector, Babel suggests that strategies for competiveness for India has become need of the hour. He says, “India experienced controlled economy till 1990 and then liberised one. Lowering the tariff barriers in domestic market has unleashed growing competition. This situation forced the domestic market to become competitive to earn sufficient foreign exchange to pay off our import requirements. Only way we can stay afloat is by creating competitive edge.”
Therefore, he suggests, “We should seriously think as to how we can create competitive edge over the global players in terms of technology, product quality, process innovation, value engineering and so on. Acquiring customers and access the markets which constitute future profitable growth from anywhere on the globe calls for enhancing competitiveness. A major precondition for competitiveness enhancement is the availability of skilled labour.”
The constant changing conditions of international markets force the stiff conditions that the nations have to face. Therefore innovation is the key to the competitive advantages for the country, he says.
Raising opportunities for domestic manufacturers The power sector in India is expected to offer tremendous opportunities to players as the demand for power is expected to increase exponentially to 9,50,000 MW by 2030. It is projected that 76 per cent of the total expected investments of $ 1,250 billion in the energy sector will go to power generation, distribution and transmission by the end of this period.
While briefing on long term measures to ensure sustainability, Babel suggests, “In order to stimulate demand for the domestic electrical equipment industry, we think the government should provide a level playing field for Indian manufacturers to compete with imported equipment in the domestic market. There is an urgent need to improve fund availability to the power sector and provide fuel linkages and faster regulatory clearances for timely completion of power projects.”
Model procurement guidelines for utilities with standardised and fair contract terms and conditions, should be framed. Due weightage should be given to the entire lifecycle cost of a product while evaluating the bids. “Opportunities for new domestic manufacturers should be given by reforming the tendering process to increase transparency and speed,” adds Babel.
Reviving the T&D sectorWhen asked about long-and-short term strategies, Babel states, “The key objective is to create a collaborative approach all around to help deliver the key priorities mentioned earlier. There is a general mood around the country to focus on economic growth. However we live in a turbulent global economic environment and therefore need to be very careful with our expectations. T&D sector revival is going to be the main focus.”