The 18th edition of the International Machine Tools & Industrial Trade Fair, “INTEC 2019”, was inaugurated in Coimbatore on June 6.
Mr. Sriram Viji, Deputy Managing Director, Brakes India Pvt. Ltd., inaugurated the fair and delivered the special address. “In the last 15 years, India has always been the upcoming star. There is no better time to do business in the country than today. There have been significant investments in the past years in terms of infrastructure, roads and electrical grids. With the help of the incoming government’s continued and strong mandate for development, the Indian market has been made accessible to almost all of the 1 billion people”, he said.
Explaining Brake India’s focuses on investments, he stated that his company as well as the group companies of TVS will continue to expand capacities and grow their presence within India. “Even with the talk of Industry 4.0 around, it is crucial that we work with the right capability, partners and recruit the right engineers in order to improve across all dimensions, he said.
“The need in the market, is to always deliver high quality products with continuous innovation in features while reducing cost. The key to success is constant innovation, upgradation of technology and that is what we should focus on”, Mr. Sriram added.
Talking about the MSMEs, Mr. Sriram stated that they have played a vital role in the country’s economy. Even with signs of a slowing global economy, the long-term sentiments are good among the industries. With the global industrial trends fast changing, the MSMEs must cope up with the changes, explained Mr. Sriram. He also said that the retention of people was one of the challenges that the MSMEs have to address. “With Coimbatore being such a large hub for MSMEs, we have the right capability and motivation to carry us forward”, he said.
In the automotive sector in India, many tier-2 and tier-3 companies supplying to manufacturers have been MSMEs, according to Mr. Sriram. “However, these companies must focus their investments on better capacity, man-power, quality, training and their systems capability. Those who understand the importance of these factors thrive in business”, he added.
Referring to the liquidity issue, Mr. Sriram explained that there has been a slowdown in rural demand and that the NBFCs and the banks have become more risk averse. This has led to a situation where the institutions are not comfortable in lending money and increasing interest rates. This has manifested in a drop in terms of sales, across all sectors at the same time.
“India has always been very good at working around lack of resources, making the best use of them and coming up with the best of solutions. We can look at this as a strength, and this could be a low-cost way to come up with strategies. However, we need to form a more structured way to carry this ability to the next level,” Mr. Sriram stated.
“The problem has always been institutionalizing these innovations and abilities, and stiff competition from all fronts. The key is to always have a good focus on innovation, R&D and the right talent pool, which will sustain us in the long term”, he concluded.