India Resilient Despite Global Headwinds

Given the optimistic developments in the rapidly changing Indian Machine Tool industry, it is vital our readers achieve a deeper understanding of the industry's present status. Starting this month, MMI has introduced a new segment that will help us gain that much-needed insight.

The Indian Machine Tool industry has been resilient to external shocks and continued to grow in the last four quarters. The industry has been doing well in all parameters whether it is production, sales, new order bookings, or consumption. Driven by the various PLI schemes, the Make in India initiative, and larger capex spending by the Government, manufacturing activities are expected to grow.

The Indian Machine Tool industry’s production and new orders are both estimated to have reported a healthy growth of over 20 percent in CY2022. In the third quarter of FY2022-23 (Oct-Dec 2022), production and order booked are estimated to have grown by 17 percent Y/Y and 4 percent Y/Y respectively (refer to Table 1 for the Machine Tool industry trend).

It is expected that the Machine Tool industry would continue its growth in FY2023-24. The global downturn projected for FY2022-23 and FY2023-24 and the global geopolitical issues appear to have less impact on the Indian capital goods and manufacturing sector. However, the domestic Machine Tool industry is cautiously optimistic.

Coming to the machine tool imports, the value was low during FY2023-24 which could be attributed to the post-pandemic days. Business activities started picking up in FY2023-24 with the value of imports growing by an estimated 96 percent in 2022 as against 2021, to reach `12,479 crore, i.e., about US$1,586 million. The above positive indicators, domestic production, and imports are expected to drive domestic consumption to further reach the pre-pandemic level of FY2018-19, which was the highest.

Indian Economic Scenario

Meanwhile, India’s GDP for FY2023-24 is forecasted to grow between 6.6 percent to 7 percent year-on-year by most global agencies. India is seen as a bright spot compared to other major economies. The country’s purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing and services remained in the expansion mode in the last quarter.

Readers can access more information on the Indian machine tool industry from the following publications:

1. Comprehensive Report on the Indian Metal Working Machine Tool Industry 2023
2. Business Feasibility Study for Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers in Thailand 2023
3. Machine Tools User Sector Project Investment List 2023
4. IMTMA Directory of Members 2023
5. Ten Year Indian Machine Tool Industry Database in Power Bi (FY2023-24 to FY2023-24)

Please write to Gingu George, george@imtma.in for accessing these publications.

Source: Data Analytics & Policy Group, IMTMA 

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