Performance of Indian machine tool industry

High growth momentum

The financial year 2007-08 was yet another landmark one for the Indian economy and
the industry, generating a great deal of optimistic growth and promising outcome.
The year was marked by 9 per cent plus GDP growth – earning the accolade of being
one amongst the fastest growing countries in the world.

The surge in demand was rampant across Indian industries, especially in the
engineering and the manufacturing sector. The key aspect about manufacturing
industry’s performance was its efforts to achieve excellence in quality, design and
innovation. The country also posted optimistic results in agriculture and in the
services stream.

For the Indian machine tool industry, 2007 was a year on the decline, and is expected
to result in reduced orders from the Indian and overseas markets. Metalworking
machine tool output of the Indian industry worth Rs 17,525 million, registered a
growth of 5 per cent during January – December 2007. Much of the growth in India’s
metalworking machine tools came about because of enhanced requirements from the
automotive sector auto ancillary industry, defence, railways, job shops and small-scale
industry units.

Metal-cutting & metal-forming tools

Metal-cutting segment continued to account for 88 per cent of the total output of
machine tools in India. In 2007, metal-cutting machine tool output worth Rs 15,357
million, led to a growth of 4 per cent.

Turning centres recorded the largest production in the industry during January –
December 2007, with a share of 30 per cent in the total machine tool output. Turning
centres, together with machining & grinding centres, accounted for nearly three-
quarters of the total metal-cutting produce and about two-third of the total metal
working output in 2007 calendar year.

Indian manufacturers in the metal-forming segment, on the other hand, registered a

growth of 8 per cent, with an output valuing Rs 2,168 million. Press manufacturers
witnessed the largest volume of business in this segment, with a 60 percent share in
metal-forming machine tools.

CNC & conventional machine tools

In keeping with the focus of the Indian industry towards enabling manufacturing
excellence, CNC machine tools comprised bulk of the produce from the Indian
stable. This segment had over 70 per cent share in the total metalworking machine
tool output in 2007.
CNC machine tool segment in India clocked a marginal growth of 5 per cent with a
turnover of Rs 12,145 million. CNC turning centres. Together with machining and
CNC grinding centres, held a share as high as 80 per cent in the total CNC machine
tool produce and 55 per cent share in the metalworking output in 2007. These three
segments have been leading the pack for over half a decade.

Conventional machine tool manufacturers, likewise, registered a growth of 4 per cent

to an output valuing Rs 5,380 million.

Export scenario
The focus of Indian manufacturers to expand their potential to other frontiers
resulted in tapping new opportunities in overseas markets, albeit marginally. As a
result, exports increased by 98 per cent in 2007. A total of 395 machine tools worth
Rs 1,475 million were exported by the Indian industry during January December
2007. Indian manufacturers exported to 36 countries, including prominent ones such
as Italy, Canada, Germany and the U S.

The highlight of the machine tool exports in 2007 was the performance in the CNC
segment CNC machines registered a growth of 100 per cent over the previous
calendar year.

Machining centres followed by turning centres, electro-discharge machines and

presses witnessed the highest export orders.
Import trend
A burgeoning Indian market and a capacity-constrained Indian machine tools
industry resulted in a zoom-phase for importers. Machine tool imports rose by 47 per
cent to register a total value of Rs 55,640 million. With this hike, imports captured 75
per cent of the Indian marketshare.

The bulk of the imports comprised metal-cutting machine tools. And within this
segment machining centres, turning centres and grinding centres formed the largest
chunk of imports. These three machine categories captured 40 per cent of the total
machine tool imports in 2007.

(Value in Rs million)
Key figures of Indian machine tool industry
Years Indicators
Production Exports
2002 4,817 485
2003 5,178 478
2004 10,111 491
2005 12,556 516
2006 16,796 746
2007 17,525 1474

One US Dollar = Rs 43.72 approximately

One Euro = Rs 64.68 approximately
 Production and export of metalworking machine tools in 2007
Machine Type Production Export
Qty Value Qty Value
Metal-cutting machine tools
EDMs (Total) 604 640.00 72 74.50
(CNC) 407 567.56 72 74.50
Machining Centres -Hor. 94 790.96 0 0.00
-Ver. 1,495 3,812.46 43 105.26
-Oth. 0 0.00 0 0.00
Lathes & automats (Total) 3,218 5,109.96 135 626.49
(CNC) 2,911 4,901.70 124 281.41
Boring-milling machines (Total) 52 359.17 0 0.69
(CNC) 1 7.50 0 0.00
Milling machines (Total) 415 383.72 10 93.60
(CNC) 66 84.02 0 0.00
Drilling machines (Total) 510 656.07 60 82.32
(CNC) 37 242.10 1 0.65
Threading/tapping machines 0 0.00 0
Grinding machines (Total) 694 1,213.00 39 48.56
(CNC) 139 641.37 6 17.38
Honing, polishing & other 214 499.71 6 7.16
super-finishing machines
Planing, shaping, slotting & 28 45.15 2 5.05
broaching machines
Gear-cutting machines 112 580.13
(CNC) 3 30.38 0 0.00
SPMs (Total) 185 1,218.20 2 7.34
(CNC) 97 626.38 0 0.00
Other metal-cutting machines 73 48.90 3 12.70

Total metal-cutting machine (Total) 7,694 15,357.00 372 1,063.66

tools
(CNC) 5.250 11,704.00 246 479.25
 Production and export of metalworking machine tools in 2007
Machine Type Production Export Export
Qty Value Qty Value
Metal-forming machine tools
Bending, folding, straightening (Total) 161 342.46 7 55.89
flattening machines (including (CNC) 130 257.38 1 1.37
press brakes)
Punching and / or shearing (Total) 152 201.61 3 12.95
machines (CNC) 135 184.00 1 3.78
Presses 238 1,502.00 8 324.00
Die-casting machines 14 38.47
Other metal-forming machines 28 83.37 5 18.05
Total metal-forming machine (Total) 593 2,167.91 23 410.90
tools (CNC) 265 441.38 2 5.15
Total metalworking machine (Total) 8,287 17,525.48 395 1,474.56
tools (CNC) 5.515 12,145.51 248 484.40
 Import of machine tools during January-December
2007 2008
Description Qty Val Qty Val
Metal-cutting machine tools
EDMs (Total) 280 559.0 293 707.0
(CNC) 206 516.0 210 679.3
Machining Centres -Hor. 555 6759.0 499 4184.3
-Ver. 1245 3874.0 1129 3500.2
-Oth. 82 2126.0 17 294.0
Lathes & automats (Total) 3376 5846.0 3012 4222.9
(CNC) 1419 4648.0 1260 3318.9
Boring & boring-milling machines (Total) 1,058 2826.0 1,081 1387.9
Milling M/cs (Total) 4020 2561.0 3503 1558.0
(CNC) 305 1773.0 320 943.7
Drilling machines (Total) 1558 835.0 1139 620.0
(CNC) 126 514.0 147 281.9
Threading / tapping machines (Total) 693 243.0 322 171.8
Grinding machines (Total) 2448 5771.0 2416 3711.5
Honing, polishing & other super- (Total) 491 622.0 529 721.3
finishing machines
Planing, shaping, slotting & (Total) 216 685.0 119 209.8
broaching machines
Sawing/cutting machines (Total) 754 350.0 544 301.0
Gear-cutting machines (Total) 1049 3019.0 958 1784.1
Other metal-cutting machines 1,154 8273.0 4489 4473.0
Total metal-cutting machine tools 18979 39976.0 20,050 27846.8
Metal-forming machine tools
Bending, folding, straightening (Total) 663 1789.0 560 1218.7
machines
Power presses (Total) 1705 5677.0 1136 3832.5
Punching and/or shearing (Total) 695 2230.0 561 1340.1
machines
Other metal-forming machines 1,950 5968.0 1,460 3697.9
Total metal-forming machine 5,013 15664.0 3,717 10089.2
tools
Total metal-forming machine 23,992 55640.0 23,767 37936.0
tools