G.A. Soman, Principal of Don Bosco
Maritime Academy, Mumbai, a leading training
institute in welding and fabrication, predicts a bright
future for the Indian welding industry.
India's consumption of crude
steel is about 50 million
tonnes and is expected to
increase to 100 million tonnes
by 2020. The welding industry is
directly dependent on steel consumption
(approximately 5 kg
weld metal per tonne of steel).
Estimates of market size vary
greatly between
3,000-5,000
crore but all agree on robust
growth up to 10 per cent for next
10 years. The welding sector withstood
the shock of the financial
meltdown mostly due to indigenous
demand supported by a justifiable
relief package to the
industry by the government.
Industry and processes: There
is still the dominance of stick
electrode SMAW welding
together with transformer and
diode/thyristor based rectifier
machines. But industry demands
of large amounts of welding
inputs spurred growth of energy
conservative inverter based
machines, greener processes
and semi- and fully-automated
equipment for productivity, large
volume of business and cost
effectiveness.
Some of the processes used in
India are SMAW, GMAW, FCAW,
GTAW, SAW, ESSC, resistance
welding, EBW and FSW. Industries
such as nuclear, power, oil
and gas, refinery, shipbuilding,
railways, aerospace,
defence,
automobile and
large infrastructure
projects are
the end-users. The
increased foreign
direct investment
is one of the
growth supporting
factors. Such
trends have had a
positive impact on
the uptake of
welding equipment
and consumables.
Development:
Today, Indian fabricators
have mastered
the art, craft
and the science of
welding. They
have the technological
ability and
infrastructure to
match foreign
competitors in
executing any
project. Welding of
newer materials
like P91 and P92
used for supercritical
boilers is done
successfully in
India. In some
niche segments
Indian fabricators
of repute are
counted amongst
the two or three
such specialist
fabricators around the world.
Mainly, ASME and IS standards
are followed but increasing use of
ISO standards is expected.
Equipment and consumables:
One of the major challenges for
domestic market is the increasing
imports of welding equipment
and consumables (many times
unreliable and substandard). In
India the unorganised sector has
been catering to a large section of
the market. But this will change as
specifications, approvals and
standards at every stage become
the norm for the users.
Today, in India, ESAB is the market
leader followed by Ador Welding
and D&H Secheron. Some of
the major Indian players are Ewac
Alloys (L&T), GEE, Honavar, Royalarc,
Anand Arc, Victor, Maruti
and Memco. Major international
companies like Thyssen, Boehler
Group, FSH, Lincoln, ITW, Welding
Alloys, Oerlikon, Hyundai,
Chosun, Kobe, Tientai, Riland
and others are setting up their
offices in India and some are setting
up manufacturing plants.
Education and training: It is a
known fact that the quality of
engineers and welders coming
out from regular colleges and ITIs
is poor. Industry is already spending,
rather investing, in their
training both in theory and practice.
Presently, this activity is limited,
but training and certification
will become the norm for each
stakeholder, as the new orders as
per ISO standards kick in. This
investment in training will pay
handsome dividend. New processes,
materials, consumables
and machines mean technically
superior manpower at all levels.
Trends and challenges:
Automation and Robotics are
being deployed
by the Indian
industries to
achieve the weld
quality first time
right, eliminate
manual interventions,
and
increase productivity.
Modern
processes like
Hot wire TIG,
Activated TIG,
Narrow groove
SAW, Tandem
SAW and GMAW,
Pulsed GMAW,
ESSC with high
speed fluxes,
laser and hybrid
laser, friction stir,
thick and thin
section joining,
exotic and refractory
metal joining,
invisible
welding, and
ultra thin wires joining are being
introduced.
Development of human resources,
materials, machines, processes,
quality and innovation will
be challenges before the industry.
Crystal ball gazing: With average
growth above 10 per cent in
the last five years, all end-user
industries are expected to show
tremendous growth. The future is
bright for at least next 10 years.