Nineteenth edition of IMTEX exhibition, ‘IMTEX 2019' and twenty-first edition of Tooltech ‘Tooltech 2019' organized by Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association (IMTMA) was inaugurated last week at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru. This is the largest IMTEX ever and IMTMA is celebrating 50 years of IMTEX.

The exhibition was inaugurated by H.D. Kumaraswamy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Revenue, Government of Karnataka, K.J. George, Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, Government of Karnataka, Vikram Kirloskar, Vice President, Confederation of Indian Industry, and Ram Venkataramani, President, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions - IMTMA, P. Ramadas, President, IMTMA, Indradev Babu, Vice President, IMTMA and V. Anbu, Director General & CEO, IMTMA were also present at the inauguration.

In his welcome speech Godrej said, "IMTEX creates a welcoming environment to everyone who comes to the exhibition. It shows industry in a different light and IMTEX is an expression of showing a new India and what its industry is capable of."

Kumaraswamy recollected that IMTEX had entered Bengaluru 12 years ago and he had the privilege of inaugurating the show and opening BIEC. "The exhibition has been a gateway for attracting investments in Karnataka since then," he added. Kumaraswamy also said that Bengaluru was historically a manufacturing hub and is making its mark as a startup and biotech hub as well. "To give impetus to aerospace vertical Karnataka has announced an aerospace policy that has identified investment potential of around 10 billion dollars in the sector during 2013-2023 which is expected to give a boost to the manufacturing industry in Karnataka.

R.V. Deshpande said, "Karnataka has always laid out a red carpet to investors wanting to do business in the state. The state has a pro-industry policy, which has helped industries to thrive."

Supporting Shri Deshpande's views K.J. George said that the state has been in the forefront of many ventures such as setting up the world's largest solar park, launching booster kit for start-ups, setting up an exclusive machine tool park, etc. He called upon the manufacturing industry to do their business in the state including their capacity expansions.