Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: The country is already the world’s third-largest consumer of electricity, and is adding capacity under the “Power for All” initiative.
India is the world’s third-largest producer and consumer of electricity, and has the world’s fifth-largest installed capacity for electricity.
Supportive government policies have triggered rapid growth of the power sector, which in turn is driving growth in the electrical equipment industry. The electrical equipment market is forecast to reach $100 billion by 2022, up from $27.3 billion in 2017-18. The sector contributes about 8% to the overall value of the manufacturing sector and 1.5% of India’s total GDP. The electrical equipment industry provides direct employment to more than half a million people and indirect employment to over 1 million. It therefore plays a key role in the growth of India’s economy.
Among subsectors of the power equipment industry, the generation equipment sector (which includes boilers, turbines and generators) makes up 25%, while transmission and distribution equipment along with allied equipment such as transformers, cables, transmission lines, switchgears, capacitors, energy meters, instrument transformers and winding wires constitute the remaining 75%.
In 2017-18, exports of electrical equipment stood at about 3% of India’s total exports. Valued at $8.9 billion, this category registered a compound annualized growth rate of 13.7%, up from $5.3 billion in 2013-14. Major export markets for the sector are the U.S., the UAE, Germany and the UK. Major exported goods within the sector include switchgear and control gear, transformers and parts, industrial electronics, cables, transmission line towers, conductors, and rotating machines (motors, AC generators, generating sets) and parts.
Meanwhile, India imported electrical equipment worth $8.6 billion—about 2% of the country’s total imports. China was the leading source of low-cost equipment imported by India. Europe and Japan, followed by the U.S., are other prominent sources of India’s electrical equipment imports.
The government of India has delicensed the electrical machinery sector and allowed 100% foreign direct investment. It plans to set up an Electrical Equipment Skill Development Council (EESDC), which will focus on identifying critical manufacturing skills needed for the electrical machinery industry.
Wisconsin’s electrical machinery industry is the second-largest in terms of total exports, and was valued at $2.6 billion in 2018. While the U.S. market share of India’s electrical equipment and commodities segment is rather low, there is room for growth in this high-value market. Electricity market reforms, such as “Power for All,” will add 93GW power capacity between 2017 and 2022. This will further create a large demand for power transmission and distribution equipment, creating export opportunities for Wisconsin companies.
Relevant upcoming trade shows include:
- ELECXPO, Aug. 2-4, 2019, Chennai
- Power Asia, Aug. 10-12, 2019, New Delhi
- CII Global Energy XPO, Nov. 20-22, 2019, New Delhi
- ELECRAMA, Jan. 18-22, 2020, Greater Noida
