Foundry Industry stages comeback in Gujarat

Rajkot, June 30 (ANI): Foundry Industry in Gujarat has staged a comeback as new business with the revival in demand from engineering and automobile sectors.

Although, the demand from the export sectors is yet to pick up significantly, the domestic demand from engineering and automobile sectors is showing signs of recovery.

The engineering sector has witnessed a surge in demand of over 50 percent since March this year and the trend is estimated to continue during the rest of the year.

With the revival in demand from engineering and automobile sectors, foundry units across the country have increased their production capacities to 55-60 percent from around 30 to 40 percent in December last year.

Chhagan Bhai, owner of Antala Export, says that the demand for the foundry products has picked up in March-April.

"The export orders which we used to receive some time back, we are not receiving them now because of global recession. As far as the local demand is concerned it has picked up in March-April," said Chhagan Bhai.

Meanwhile Bhavesh Patel, President, Rajkot Engineering Association said that the condition of the foundry units greatly improved in last 2-3 months.

"Foundry industry was greatly affected by the recession till about six months back. The units manufacturing automobile parts came to a near stand still but their condition has greatly improved in last 2-3 months and we hope the situation will greatly improve in the coming months," said Patel.

The economic crisis has led to the closure of 500-700 foundry units. (ANI)