Can you elaborate on challenge of lack skilled workforce? What steps the association is taking towards solving this problem?
One of the major concern or challenge the industry is currently facing is dearth of skilled man power. One of the key reasons behind this stems from a lack of awareness about the forging industry and the opportunities that it offers. To tackle this issue, we decided to address the same at the grass root level i.e. through an engagement with colleges and institutes. AIFI signed an MoU with Pune's renowned engineering institute, COEP to develop a curriculum specific to the forging industry and start various courses such as graduation with forging as elective subject, certificate course in forging technology, post-graduation in forging technology, etc. The underlying objective has been to spread awareness about the sector in terms of growth, scope of career opportunities and the diversity of the kind of roles and learnings it has to offer. Apart from this, we continuously associate with colleges through their educational and technology fests and engage with students through fun interactive activities.
In addition, we also encourage the high educational institutes to associate with us to explore other initiatives like hands-on knowledge building through plant visits, internships with various forging companies, undertaking research projects, organizing seminars/conferences and other initiatives where people from the industry can interact with the students.
We firmly believe that collaborations like these between academia and industry will help develop new communication streams and address various issues relevant to the industry.
Can you please elaborate on exports of the forged products? (scope, challenges) Which industries and geographies are the main contributors towards the exports of forged products?
Indian forging industry is one of the key players in the auto component manufacturing sector. Currently, the industry apart from catering to the automotive sector, solar, aerospace, railways and wind sector also plays a key role in contributing to the forex by way of huge exports.
The industry is increasingly tapping opportunities arising out of the growing trend among global automotive OEMs to outsource components from manufacturers in low-cost countries. As a result, the Indian forging industry has been makingsignificant contributions to the country's growing exports.
The Indian forging industry, as a part of the manufacturing sector, has played a significant role in the Indian economy, with an estimated size of around Rs. 27,835 cr in FY14-15. Of this, approximately Rs. 6,100 cr was attributed to exports in the same period. India exported forgings valued at around Rs. 6,100 crore in FY 2014-15, which constitutes to around 22 percent of total turnover. Continued economic growth in the US and a recovery in the European auto market resulted in higher growth in forging export.
With overall business sentiments improving in India, in the years to come, we expect to see improved business activity which will consequently push the demand for forging products as well as exports.
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