The manufacturing industry places heavy demand on pumps, when it comes to optimum operation, high reliability and low energy consumption. The sector, which is one of the indispensible sectors driven by motors, is making strides in indigenisation of advanced technologies.
Indian manufacturers design, develop, manufacture various types of pumps to cater to several sectors in the country and overseas. With a history of over 80 years, the revenues of the Indian Pump Industry, having over 700 manufacturers, is estimated to have crossed the revenues of over Rs 20,000 crore in 2013-14.Though the agriculture pumps industry is passing through troubled times, there is a hope that demand conditions will improve as early as next year. However, the same cannot be said in the case of industrial pumps.
DOMESTIC SCENARIO
The industry is in a bad shape at present. The demand for agriculture pumps has fallen by about 30 per cent this year. This is mainly due to monsoon playing truant and even as some places have experienced rains, mostly they were unseasonal, inflicting heavy losses on farmers,” said Bharat B Patel, president of Indian Pump Manufacturers’ Association (IPMA).Though rains made an early appearance that too with full vigour in June 2015, they have disappeared over the next two months due to El Nino effect. The unseasonal rains in September and October have damaged crops.
Loss of crops leading to poor financial resources of farmers saw the market for pumps plummeting,” said Yagnesh Buch, DGMMarketing, KSB Pumps Limited Pumps industry caters to several needs in the agriculture sector, including pumps for irrigation, fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides, preservatives and packaging activities and for handling and disposal of molasses in sugar sector. For fisheries and aquaculture sectors they also provide specialised corrosionproof sea water pumps that ensuring smooth flow for the sea-life into ponds.Patel exuded hope that he sees some recovery in demand coming up next year, if rainfall across the country is normal and happens in season.
