MANUFACTURING FUELS GROWTH

Dear Readers,

Over the years, the Indian machine tool industry has withstood many challenges, demonstrating resilience and momentum, underpinned by the depth of domestic demand and the country’s growing aspirations to strengthen its industrial backbone. With production reaching INR 14,566 crore (US$1.7 billion) and consumption touching INR 31,781 crore (US$3.7 billion) in FY 2024–25, the signals are unmistakable: manufacturing growth is steady and driving strategic expansion.

The rise in capital goods consumption is an encouraging sign of confidence across industries. Simultaneously, it brings into sharp focus a long-standing systemic challenge: the persistent reliance on imports for critical core components. Control systems, drives, encoders, feedback devices, spindles, and ballscrews, the essential building blocks of every machine tool, continue to be sourced mainly from abroad, especially in high-precision domains.

Stakeholders have made concerted efforts to indigenize these technologies with varying degrees of success. The reluctance of technologically advanced nations to share knowledge has constrained progress, creating bottlenecks not just for the machine tool industry but for the broader capital goods ecosystem. This reality underscores an urgent imperative: the need to develop core technologies across all industrial segments. 

History shows that transformative progress occurs when industry, academia, and government align around a shared purpose. A mission-mode approach that combines research, policy support, skill development, and industrial scale-up can enable India to cross this technological threshold. I urge Machine Tool industry stakeholders to join hands and work cohesively to develop core technologies and innovative products.

In this strategic context, IMTEX FORMING 2026, organized by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) from January 21–25, 2026, at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru, assumes renewed significance.

I invite the manufacturing community to visit IMTEX FORMING 2026. The exhibition will serve as a dynamic platform for manufacturers, technology providers, and decision-makers to view the latest advancements in metal forming machinery and solutions, evaluate opportunities, and chart a future path.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year and rewarding reading of this issue of MMI.

MOHINI KELKAR
PRESIDENT
IMTMA