In the previous part of this blog, we saw the growth of Foundries in India, as a Part-1 different foundry applications and the distribution of cluster areas in the various Indian states. We should appreciate the fact that each foundry cluster is famous for catering to some targeted end-use markets. For instance, the Coimbatore cluster specializes in pump-set castings, the Belgaum and Kolhapur clusters for automotive castings, the Howrah cluster and the Rajkot cluster for sanitary casting and diesel castings respectively. Likewise, several other clusters in India are highly industry-specific.

Manpower:

The Foundry industry in India provides direct employment to 500,000 workers and 150,00,00 workers indirectly. Considered an extremely labour-intensive sector, it has helped the socially and economically weaker strata of society. The foundry sector in India is estimated to employ in excess of 2 million people in the next 10 years. 

Global Scenario:

According to the 54th World Casting census released by Modern Castings USA in January 2021, the total casting production during the year 2020-2021 is 109.05 million metric tonnes, a sharp fall by 3.2 percent in comparison to the previous year. China, India and the US top the charts. China too reported a fall of 1.2 percent in production and India, being the second largest castings producer in the world, witnessed a reduction in production by 14.2 percent.

Role in manufacturing area:

The new manufacturing policy witnessed an increase in the manufacturing pie in terms of GDP to 25 percent from the current 15 percent and is estimated to create additional jobs of 100 million in the next 10 years. Since almost all engineering and other allied sectors deploy metal castings in their manufacturing, the foundry industry plays a pivotal role in supporting manufacturing. The growth of Indian Foundries is important for the sustainability of the entire manufacturing sector.

Exports Import trends:

Exports have been on an upward trend and are approximately 25-30 percent YOY till 2011-12 following which there was a slump in exports. However, the current exports for the financial year 2019 -20 are approximately USD 3.1 billion.

Let’s dive deeper into Part: 3 of how these Foundries in India contribute to shaping industries worldwide.