ELECRAMA 2018 will be more than an Exhibition
Shreegopal Kabra, President, Indian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) elaborates about what the forthcoming ELECRAMA 2018 has in store in an interview with Huned Contractor
Q. What will be the highlights of this year’s show?
ELECRAMA 2018, to be held from March 10-14 at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, will be the largest edition yet with over 40,000 square metres of pure exhibition space and additional 5,000 square metres of pavilions, displays and concurrent events. It will feature new business areas that are redefining the electricity space – the key components being renewable energy, energy storage, digitalisation of electricity through IOT and AI and electric transportation opportunities.
The key new event additions to the show include ‘ETechNxt’, which will be focusing on the new technology areas and expose the electrical industry to new technology innovations and disruptions and equip them with information to manage the transformation to these new paradigm shifts.
ELECRAMA 2018 will also host a power pavilion, a renewable energy pavilion, a railways pavilion and an international pavilion from many countries. It will attract and host whole new constituencies of end users and industry segments like power electronics, renewables, electric transportation, energy storage and automation. The show will also have a huge congregation of electrical trade that includes retailers, electricians, contractors and MSME suppliers and vendors in addition to manufacturers who will be engaged through special activities.
Q. What is the status and size of the Indian electrical equipment industry?
The size of the industry is valued at around USD 28 billion. A fourth of it is made up of power generation equipment with transmission and distribution contributing the rest. The industry provides direct employment to about 5,00,000 people and indirectly to about 1 million. We, as a country, are aspiring to increase the output of the electrical equipment industry to USD 100 billion by 2022 and become a destination of choice for overseas’ producers of such equipment.
Q. How does the Indian industry compare with other countries?
India is firmly set on a path of economic growth that is estimated to usher in prosperity like never before. This economic prosperity will need to be built on the back of significant transformations across several facilitating elements, the primary ones being infrastructure build-out, energy availability and sustainability. The government’s ‘Make in India’ program has placed India on the world map as a manufacturing hub and given global recognition to the Indian economy.
India is expected to become the fifth-largest manufacturing country in the world by the end of year 2020. The Government of India has set an ambitious target of increasing the contribution of manufacturing output to 25% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, from 16% currently. India’s manufacturing sector has the potential to touch USD 1 trillion by 2025. There is potential for the sector to account for 25-30% of the country’s GDP and create up to 90 million domestic jobs by 2025.
Q. In your opinion, how will the present government’s focus on infrastructure development and the implementation of smart cities benefit the electrical equipment industry?
The energy infrastructure is arguably the single most important feature in any city. If unavailable for a significant enough period of time, all other functions will eventually cease. IEEMA helps modernize power systems for smart cities through self-healing designs, automation, remote monitoring and control, and where practical and economic, the establishment of micro grids. We have all the required technologies and skill-sets.
Q. In what way would ELECRAMA and IEEMA promote technical collaborations, research and innovations among its members?
The constant changing conditions of international markets force the stiff conditions that the nations have to face. Therefore innovation is the key to create competitive advantages for the country. Technological advances help lower the cost and risk levels, thereby reducing the manufacturing capital requirements. Therefore organisations have to be ‘learning organisations’ to have a sustainable competitive edge. Increased spending in research and development will help develop cost-effective technologies.
Q. Will there be a focus on renewable energy in this year’s show?
ELECRAMA 2018 will also host a dedicated renewable energy pavilion to feature technology and product displays, and more importantly, connect the equipment manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to key decision-makers and end customers like utilities, EPCs, private power producers and those in the captive generation segments.
Q. Has the participation of foreign companies in ELECRAMA increased over the years? What do they look forward to at this show?
Yes, it has increased and this time we will showcase new discussion forums and will have people from various related segments across the globe marking their presence for the first time. About 30-40% of the audience will be from segments which were never present at this forum before, such as power electronics, electro-mobility and power storage. In addition to the World Utility Summit, ELECRAMA 2018 will also introduce the World Contractors Consultants and Channel Partners Congress (W4C), where representatives from across the world will integrate and build relations with the Indian supplier segment.
A Global Electrical Equipment Manufacturers Summit (GEMS) will be created for the first time for the electricity equipment manufacturing sector to engage and collaborate to strengthen the industry’s roots further. A fresh and progressive step in this year’s ELECRAMA will be the inclusion of the young generation in this age-old industry through E-TechNxt. This will be a startup pavilion being introduced for the first time in association with TIE and NASSCOM.
Through ELECRAMA 2018 we aim to give new direction and new meaning to ‘electricity’. It will not be a mere exhibition; it will be an experience.
Q. What is IEEMA planning to do to attract first-time visitors to the show?
ELECRAMA 2018 will be rolling out a visitor acquisition campaign that spans different forms of media and promotional activities, both domestic and global, will be a part of this. The activities will focus on both quality and quantity of visitors to provide maximum return on investment to our exhibitors. Dedicated strategic activities are planned to reach out to each segment to derive maximum participation from the target audience. A host of engagement activities to connect visitors with exhibitors and other participants have been planned to pack exceptional value for those visiting the exhibition.
