Profile of Indian Foundry Industry:- By IIF-Foundry Informatics Centre, New Delhi

Foundry Industry at a glance:

i) Global Scenario: As per the World casting Census published in Jan 2023 by Modern Castings USA, Global Casting Production increased to more than 113.14 million metric tonnes. China, India & USA hold the top three positions.

ii) India is 2nd largest producer: With the casting production of approx. 14.16 Million MT per annum in 2022-23 (up from previous year 13.78%), India continues to be the second largest producer of castings in the world

iii) Types of Casting: Grey Iron Casting, Non-ferrous Casting, Ductile Iron Casting, Steel Casting, Malleable Casting

iv) Production: 14.16 Million MT per annum in 2022-23 (up from previous year 13.78%)

v) Total no. of Units (approx): 4500

vi) Employment: 2.0 Million (Direct 0.5 Million & Indirect 1.5 Million)

vii) Revenue: USD 20.0 Billion

viii) Exports: USD 3.94 Billion (2022-23)

ix) End users: Automotive (32%), Industrial Machinery (7%), Pipes & fittings (9%), Agriculture machinery (8%), Railways (6%), Pumps & Compressors (5%), Valves (4%), Electrical Equipment (3%), Power (5%), Sanitary (8%) etc.

x) Major Foundry Clusters: Batala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Agra, Pune, Kolhapur, Sholapur, Rajkot, Mumbai, Belgaum, Coimbatore, Chennai, Shivamoga, Hyderabad, Howrah, Indore, Ahmedabad, Faridabad etc.

xi) Opportunities for growth: Govt. of India’s impetus on Infrastructure development; Defence/ Space Sectors; Modernization of the Railways; Renewable Energy Sector, Capital Goods, Power, Cement and Textile markets-castings and Expanding export market. Also demand for light weight and high technology cast components would be required for sectors like Electric Vehicles, High Speed Trains, Defence, Nuclear Power Plants etc as they require critical cast components to withstand pressures, heat and safety.

In Details:

The Indian foundry industry manufacturers metal cast components for applications in Auto, Tractor, Railways, Machine tools, Sanitary, Pipe Fittings, Defence, Aerospace, Earth Moving, Textile, Cement, Electrical, Power machinery, Pumps/ Valves, Wind turbine generators etc. Foundry Industry has a turnover of approx. USD 20.0 Billion with export approx. USD 3.94 billion.

However, Grey iron castings have the major share i.e. approx 68% of total castings produced.

There are approx 4500 units out of which 90% can be classified as MSMEs. Approx 1500 units are having International Quality Accreditation. Several large foundries are modern & globally competitive. Many foundries use cupolas using LAM Coke. However, these are gradually shifting to Induction Melting. There is growing awareness about environment & many foundries are switching over to induction furnaces & some units in Agra are changing over to cokeless cupolas.

General Economic Scenario

Govt. focus on “MAKE IN INDIA”, “EASE OF DOING BUSINESS”, infrastructure & easing FDI norms to promote investments in manufacturing & new initiatives & co-operations in skill development.

Forecasts of growth by leading institutions:-

India to become fastest growing economy >7.5% YoY as per forecasts of leading International Institutions.

Major Foundry Clusters:-

The major foundry clusters are located in Batala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Agra, Pune, Kolhapur, Sholapur, Rajkot, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Coimbatore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Howrah, Kolkata, Indore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon etc.

Each cluster is known for its products Typically, each foundry cluster is known for catering to some specific end-use markets. For example, the Coimbatore cluster is famous for pump-sets castings, the Kolhapur and the Belgaum clusters for automotive castings and the Rajkot cluster for diesel engine castings, Howrah cluster for sanitary castings etc.

Manpower:

The total Manpower in Foundry Sector is approx. 500,000 Directly & 150,00,00 indirectly. The foundry sector is highly labour intensive & currently generates employment for 2.0 Million directly & indirectly mainly from socially & economically weaker sections of society. It has potential to generate additional employment of additional 2.0 Million in next 10 years. Foundries Focus on Technology: a) Automation b) 3D Printing c) Robotics/ IT Application d) Foundry Simulation Software e) Reclamation/ recycling of waste raw material f) Common Facility Centre g) Value addition & Up-scaling the operations

Sectors Driving Growth:

a) Auto & Auto Components
b) Tractors
c) Construction Equipment
d) Machine Tools
e) Capital Goods
f) Defence & Railways –Emerging opportunities

World Casting Census:



Role in Manufacturing Sector:

The new manufacturing policy envisages the increase in the share of manufacturing in the GDP to 25% from current 15% & to create 100 Million additional jobs in next 10 years. Since all engineering & other sectors use metal castings in their manufacturing, the role of foundry industry to support manufacturing is very vital. It is not possible to achieve the above goal without the sustainable corresponding growth of the foundry sector .
Production of Castings in India during last Six Years (in Million Tonnes)



Exports Import Trends

From the year 2021-22 onward, the casting export trends are positive and encouraging. The current exports for FY 2022-23 are approx USD 3.95 billion with an increase of approx. 11.5% from the last year 2021-22.

Sector-wise consumption of Casting
Automobile Sector is major consumers of castings, Please see the Chart Below.


Statewise Dispersal of Foundry Units in India (%)