Just when we thought that the first wave of COVID-19 will be soon over (or that was what we were told, if nothing else) but the second wave of the pandemic, which started earlier this year, has unleashed untold sufferings and devastation upon the public. Businesses that were slowly gaining grounds after a huge setback, starting from the outbreak of the pandemic last year, have been pushed to the wall. The second wave of the COVID-19 has been breathing fire consuming millions of lives in India and all over. We are already in the cusp of another economic disaster; business operations have been stalled at different points and whatever developments took place post first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic lost steam amidst the rising COVID cases.   

According to a data released by the Institute of Indian Foundrymen in 2014, the annual output of foundry sector is nearly 10 million tonnes; the Indian foundry sector constitutes about 4,500 casting (molten metal) units, out of which 85 percent is broadly categorised as small enterprises. While 10 per cent is classified as medium units, and the rest make up large manufacturing plants. While SMEs accounts for 15 per cent of castings production, the medium and larger plants form about 85 per cent. Industry experts opine that government’s support and intervention is required for the survival of the foundry industry post the second wave of the pandemic, as the general lack of demand from consumer sectors have negatively impacted their financial health.

Even before the pandemic, between 2013-2014, the foundry sector faced unprecedented slowdown due to the decline in demand mainly from the engineering and automobile sectors. Earlier the manufacturing sector itself was badly hit by a slump in demand. There weren’t many infrastructure-related projects like power and others, thereby leading to the downfall of the foundry industry with the overall sales declining by 25-30%. Click here to learn more in Part - 2.