Turning The Tables

SO FAR DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS FOR TURNING & MILLING OPERATIONS, CUTTING TOOLS PLAYERS ARE NOW TAKING ADVANTAGE OF INDIA’S FAVOURABLE BUSINESS CLIMATE TO INVEST IN LOCAL MANUFACTURING.

- Mitalee Kurdekar

 

THE INDIAN CUTTING TOOLS INDUSTRY HAS seen a gradual, but important transformation over the past few years. Traditionally, the industry was dubbed as an import-dependent one, but it has now started attracting the attention of global technology partners/ manufacturers, which should work to its advantage, especially as India is on its way to becoming one of the top three countries in terms of manufacturing. Currently, the cutting tools industry in India hardly contributes around 1% of global output with more than half of its requirements of its cutting tools being imported. Even neighbouring countries like China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan have a much better contribution to global output. While a pessimist may look at this statistic as a major concern, industry players remain optimistic in viewing this as a high-growth prospect for the future, wherein the industry will strive to reduce the dependence on imports and prepare to support India in its journey to becoming a manufacturing giant by 2030.