The 13^th Auto Expo 2016-Components Show, organised jointly by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, saw several  business meetings and networking engagements, reflecting the positive sentiment in the automotive sector in India.

Anant Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, formally inaugurated the event on February 4.  In line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme and to drive home the message about the need to focus on R&D and innovation in the auto component sector, the four-day expo was developed around the theme of ‘Automotive Technologies that Drive the World’.

The expo, which reflected the potential of the Indian auto component industry, was spread over 80,000 square metres across 18 halls in Pragati Maidan. It saw participation from 1,500 companies, which included 900 Indian companies and 600 international exhibitors. The eight dedicated international pavilions from China, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the UK attracted a large number of business visitors too. Over 114,328 focussed trade visitors across four days, from 62 countries, made the event a premier business event in the region.

Expressing satisfaction on a successful components show, Arvind Balaji, president, ACMA, said: “We had significant international and domestic participation, reflecting the potential of the Indian auto component industry. It is heartening that the exhibitors displayed products that would meet the customer expectations in terms of quality and technology.”

“The displays at the Auto Expo not only provided an exposure to the Indian industry to the latest and best, but also provided an opportunity to strike collaborations to develop technologies indigenously,” said Deep Kapuria, chairman, CII Trade Fairs.

Speaking on the new initiative by ACMA, Vinnie Mehta, director general, ACMA, said: "The auto component industry is making a conscious effort to graduate from Build to Print to innovation, R&D and creation of products and IP. Therefore, this year ACMA set up an innovation pavilion, which showcased new automotive technologies developed by the Indian companies, and it attracted huge interest from visitors. The intent of the innovation pavilion was to offer a unique platform to the component manufacturers to display their capabilities in product and technology development.” 

“The feedback from the exhibitors at the Components Show has been very encouraging - especially in terms of quality of visitors which has helped in better business prospects for the industry,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.

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In continuation of its efforts to create awareness about the disadvantages of counterfeiting and on the need to use genuine parts, ACMA’s Asli-Naqli pavilion highlighted the ways in which genuine products can be distinguished from fakes. Twelve component companies were part of the this pavilion.

Coinciding with the Auto Expo, ACMA also organised the New Delhi Automotive Summit 2016 on February 5 on the theme of ‘Make Quality & Technology in India’. The summit witnessed participation from several leading global and domestic auto component leaders who shared their views and experiences on making quality products for exports out of India, while top-notch OEMs talked about their expectations from component manufacturers with respect to value addition and innovation using frugal engineering.

Photography: Omkar Dhas