Indian Ceramic Industry Should Focus on an Export-Led-Growth Strategy.

New Delhi: “The Indian ceramic industry should focus on an export-led-growth strategy by further developing Advanced Ceramics”. This was the consensus at an Conference on ‘Advanced Ceramics for tomorrow’ held as part of CeraGlass India 2010, India’s first ever comprehensive ceramics, glass and allied products show organized by Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation (RIICO), Government of Rajasthan, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Ceramic Society (ICS) with the support of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Giving an insight on the developments taking place in the Ceramics industry,  Mr Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII CeraGlass India 2010 & Chairman and Managing Director Somany Ceramics Ltd, said “The demand of ceramic and glass products is growing globally with over 90 percent of the total demand for advanced ceramic materials coming from electronic goods and allied industries; primarily for its inertness to extreme environmental conditions. A niche market called "bio-ceramics" is coming up rapidly with applications in prosthetic devices, bone transplants and pace makers. Another front where research in ceramics and glass is  of importance is automotives and mobile phones because India has a great potential in these fields.”

In his Theme Address,  Dr Indranil Manna, Director, CGCRI pointed out, “Advanced ceramics (engineering ceramics) is manufactured with highly refined and specially prepared raw materials using sophisticated technology. The inputs for producing this variety are not naturally occurring minerals but those that have already undergone chemical transformation and refinement, prior to their use in a ceramic production. While advanced ceramics find relevance in wide variety of products, their applications could be categorized broadly as Electronics, medical, Energy, Aerospace and Automotives and Military.

Dr H S Maiti, Senior Adviser, CSIR stated, “Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, has several laboratories across the country to conduct research in various fields of advanced ceramics and we are contributing to various civilian and strategic research.” He emphasized that India has been growing at a very rapid pace but is lagging behind in innovative research. He sought the support of the industries under the guidance of CII in bringing the technology from the laboratories to the industries.

Mr Kamal Aggarwal, Managing Director, Bharat Potteries Ltd said, “Advanced ceramics market has been witnessing growth in both traditional and new application areas. Technology innovations have over the years helped make performance and productivity improvements, a key factor instrumental in popularizing the usage of advanced ceramics in several industries. While research and innovation in advance ceramics continues to reveal unprecedented uses, evidence suggests that the field is much broader than is usually assumed. With Japan and the US taking lead in the field, India is not far behind. Taking cues from the global market, the Indian ceramic industry is now focusing on an export-led-growth strategy.

As of now, India produces only about 5,000 tonnes per annum of advanced ceramics whereas, the world market totals approximately 500, 000 tonnes per annum. According to the 2009-2014 Outlook for Advanced Ceramics in India, it is estimated that the latent demand, or the Potential Industry Earnings (P.I.E), for advanced ceramics in India is divided and concentrated across the cities and regional markets of India. The segment is expected to witness a robust growth of 12 to 14 per cent.

Source : orissadiary.com