Thomex.com
New Delhi: The International Exhibition and Conference on 'Power- Gen India and Central Asia' was inaugurated here on Thursday by Minister of Power, Sushil Kumar Shinde amid high expectations from the show.
The three-day event being organised by Inter Ads and supported by Ministry of Power and Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Govt of India, was attended by eminent people including Sunand Sharma, Country President, ALSTOM and SK Garg, CMD, NHPC among others.
While inaugurating the show, Shinde said that we are at the threshold of a major expansion programmes in the power sector. "Now automatic approval of foreign direct investment for 100% foreign equity is permissible in generation, Transmission, Distribution and trading in the non-atomic power sector," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, SK Garg, Chairman & Managing Director, NHPC said, "At present our total installed capacity of electricity / power is around 1,41,000 MW against the projected demand of 2,00,000 MW with this, country is experiencing a peaking power shortage of 14% and overall energy shortage of around 10%."
Garg said, "To meet the wide imbalance between demand and supply mega expansion plan during XIth plan period has been formulated and accordingly ministry of power has set an ambitious target to add 78,577 MW including 16,553 MW of hydropower in the 11th plan period."
The show was attended by hundreds of industry professionals, manufacturers and service providers including power sector giants like ABB Limited, NHPC, Alstom, Ansaldo, BHEL, Cethar Vessels, Controls & Switchgear, Cummins India Limited and others.
"The show is being organised over 15,000 sq m area of Hall No 9, 10, 11, 12 and 12A of Pragati Maidan and there were around 230 exhibitors from 22 different countries," said Shashi Bhusan Singh, Vice President and Marketing & Operation of Inter Ads.
Talking about the participation in the show, Shashi said, "We have been organising the shows for the last 12 years and have seen 30 per cent growth. As the show is meant only for industry-related participants, we expect a modest 7,000-8,000 turnover this time."
Addressing the media, Anant J Talaulicar, Vice President and MD, Cummins India announced major investments in Power generation and new range of products including sourcing for global markets. The new products of the company included 30/35 kVA low Horse Power generator sets in the X series, and a 750 kVA high horse power generator set in the QSK23 series.
There was an element of enthusiasm among the exhibitors as the day warmed up to more people visiting the show. Rajan Vashist of Delta Power Solutions, a first time participants in the show said, "We are participating in the show to meet customers from the power sector. On the first day, the visitors coming to the show was average. We expect around 300 visitors this time around."
Makoto Nishimura of Hitachi Thermal Power System, who was here in India to participate in the show, said he was enthralled with curious crowd visiting their stall and throwing hard questions. "Unlike the tradeshows in the Middle East and Europe, people here are more curious and want to know more and more," Makoto said who is expecting around 100 visitors per day at his modest stall.
Officials from GE Transportation, who represented the company at the show said that the response was better than the last time and hoped it will pick up during the remaining two days. "We are participating in the show to build relationship and create brand awareness. It's just a forum where we reconnect with our customers. Our intention here is not to sell." he said, adding "The show is a good platform to the industry to showcase its technology, product and services and for the market to have everything under one roof."
Talking about the GE diesel engines, the official said, "As we are always a technology differential and ours is a niche market as our products are known for emission reduction, energy saving and efficient production."
Naresh Kumar of Vestas, who participated in the show for the first time, said the response on the first day was good and he expected around 50 visitors per day. He said, "Our motive to participate in the exhibition is to showcase our products and be visible in the growing wind energy segment."
"Like Oil and Gas, Wind energy has huge potential in India which is growing at the rate of 30% per year. Some states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra are taking initiatives to exploit the rich resource," he said.
Pedro A. Gil Vodermayer of Deutz Power System whose company is participating in the show for the second time said, "Our sale in India has increased but it can't be designated solely to our participation in the tradeshow. India has huge potential and we are looking forward to increasing our sell in times to come," he said.
