German machine tools develop from positive development of the Indian economy

India’s economy is exceeding even the most optimistic expectations and, seen on an international scale, it is one of the most dynamically growing boom nations. Forecasts for India’s industry are also indicating growth ahead, especially for the automobile and mechanical engineering sectors. But even such important customers as the electronics production, aerospace and medical engineering industries are making huge investments.



India is the fastest-booming automotive market in the world. There is no doubt at all that the automobile industry and its supplier industries represent an important yardstick for all national economies throughout the world when it comes to measuring the economic development of the nation itself. In order to help further boost this economic development, the most modern manufacturing technology is required. This need can be partly catered for by India’s own machine tool industry, which itself is currently expanding. Nevertheless, the great demand for machine tools within India’s industry is to a large degree catered for by imports. The machine tool consumption in India last year was more than three times as high as domestic production, whereby Japan and Germany have, for years, been the most important supplier nations for the Indian market. In 2006, Germany, with a share of 23 per cent, was the most important supplier of machine tools.

For the German machine tool industry, India has developed into an exceptionally dynamic market over the past years – a market which is very important for us, and one which we take very seriously!

German machine tool exports to India have continued to grow at an annual two-figure rate since 2002. An increase in exports of 23 per cent was registered in the first half of 2007 compared to the same period last year. This positive trend is continuing, and incoming orders for the first half of the current year have risen by a significant 99 per cent over against the figures for the same period last year.

In 2006, exports of machine tools to India totaled 193.7 million euros, with the share of metal-cutting machine tools at around 71 percent. In 2006, India took 11th place in the global ranking list of our most important export nations. After the first six months of 2007, it had already moved up to the 10th position.

The major part of these exports to India consisted of machining centres, grinding, honing, lapping machines, gear cutting machines, lathes and milling machines, presses and other metal forming machine tools.

Looked at the other way around, Germany has, over the past four years, imported machine tools from India to a value of between 3.52 and 5.82 million euros annually, whereby this figure showed a growth of 8 per cent in the first six months of 2007 compared to the same period last year. The Indian machine tool industry can look ahead optimistically into the future, since domestic production is on the rise and high growth figures are expected to continue in the years ahead.

Statement by Carl Martin Welcker, Chairman of the VDW and managing partner of Alfred H. Schutte GmbH & Co. KG, Cologne, on the oocassion of the press conference at the “Machine tools and Manufacturing Systems from Germany” symposium in Bangalore on 15 November 2007