ABOUT AUTOMATION IN INDIA

The Indian economy maintained the momemtum of growth recorded in the last three years. The manufacturing sector, a key contributor, registered a growth of 11.8%, the highest since 1996-97, and continues to be the main driver of industrial activity. The sector performance was broad-based with key industry segments such as chemicals, machinery, metals, cement and automotive being prominent.

The automation industry output has seen an impressive growth rate of 16%. Industry sources attribute the surge to increased realization that productivity, quality and integration are key aspects being impacted by investments in automation. New areas such as buildings, airports, are being included in the offering by many automation vendors.

The Indian customer is progressively looking beyond the traditional specifications of basic measurement and control. General purpose PLCs and DCS systems account for 42% of the shipments. Drive systems constitute about 18%. Sensors and transmitters about 11%.

SCADA systems, MES and Auto ID are the emerging technologies being offered. System integration activity is maturing as customers want more value based engineering. New entrants to this line will have to bundle their solutions more and more if they want to gain a strong foothold in the market. Some areas where they could focus are:

Information Integration Management
Plant Asset Management Systems
Machine & Operator Performance Effectiveness
Industrial Safety Systems
Process Audit Reporting Systems

AIA members today account for over 2/3rd of the installations being sourced from India. We expect their contributions to grow significantly as the fraternity collectively strives to educate users in bringing global capability to their plants.