Chennai, Oct. 10 The Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA) will soon create a cell to study the implications of international trades, especially Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that India signed with other countries.
Mr Murali Venkataraman, President, IEEMA, told Business Line that the apex body of the electrical and electronics manufacturers in the country is concerned about imports, especially from China and Thailand, as these could make the Indian industry uncompetitive.
The association is giving final touches to set up a cell to study the pros and cons in every vertical of the sector. The cell will have a core group of members to carry out SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis and prepare a report, which will then be submitted to the Government for action.
Domestic woes
At present, the domestic market is flooded with miniature circuit breakers, compact fluorescent lamps and fuses and in no time other items might come. The industry is also facing problems on account of talent crunch with students not evincing interest in this trade.
Even qualified engineers are not readily employable due to lack of exposure. To plug the gap, the association is conducting a competition among students from 250 technical colleges across India to develop innovative products. The top 40 projects will be displayed at the Elecrama 2010 exhibition to be held in January in Mumbai, he said.
Pilot project
Besides, IEEMA is also working on a pilot project encompassing two engineering colleges and polytechnics in Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra to modify the curriculum in order to develop employable students. It is in talks with the ministries of heavy industries, industries and power seeking support to replicate the model in the larger way.
With the country going for higher capacity — 765 KV and 1,200 KV — transmission and distribution lines, IEEMA is creating ‘Generation Systems Division’ to link all the generation equipment manufacturers to work on uniform specification standards.
Source : Business Line