Do the reduced prices of imported machines hurt the business of the Rajkot cluster in a big way since many customers prefer to buy these machines? What needs to be done to tackle this problem? How is MTMA helping?
Due to devaluation of our currency, the effect of cheap priced imported machines in international currency is now diluted up to some extent. If we consider the market of low cost machines and conventional machines produced in Rajkot, business is not hurting in big way.

Customers are now focusing more on performance and life of machines as well as on better after sale service. Also, our efforts are to create awareness among our members to focus on customer's expectation to cope with market demands.

Last time you mentioned that Rajkot MTMA has 270 plus registered members. Has there been any change in this number in the last three months?
During the last three months, three new members have been added in our association. If we are looking at the size and numbers of machine tools manufacturers units in Rajkot, we are proud that approximately more than 70 percent units are now members of our association.  

The next major show organised by Rajkot MTMA will be the Rajkot Machine Tools Show 2016. How is the preparation happening on that front? How big do you expect it to be in terms of exhibition space, number of exhibitors and number of visitors?

The Rajkot Machine Tools Show (RMTS) 2016 will be organised during November 2016 and we have announced about this sixth edition of RMTS during the exhibitors' meet of Engimach 2015 in Gandhinagar. So RMTS 2016 will be the sixth edition of this successful exhibition for machine tools in Rajkot. We are expecting very big participation in this show from all over India.  Today, Rajkot is considered as one of the biggest machine tools and engineering hub in India and exhibitors will get a market for their products through this show.

Anything else that you would like to add?
The ‘Make in India' campaign will definitely provide a boost to the manufacturing sector of India. As per the present statics of consumption v/s manufacturing of machine tools across India, there is a lot of potential for these industries.

Indian machines have now created good reputation in the global markets. Of course, if we have to grab a good share in the exports markets then we have to work hard for getting orders from these markets and also have to prove that our products are better in quality, technology, delivery, and price compared to other global players.
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