The pump market in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 7 per cent, by revenue, during the period 2021-26. The growth of the pump market will primarily be driven by rapid industrialisation, and investments in the water infrastructure and power generation sectors. In addition, the growing utilisation of different types of pumps across different sectors such as chemical, oil and gas, water and wastewater treatment, power generation, food and beverage, mining, pulp and paper will lead to market expansion.
Recent developments
The Indian government has been taking initiatives to strengthen the national economy. In the Union Budget 2019-20, the agriculture sector was identified as one of the key drivers of the economy. e-NAM (National Agriculture Market), an online trading platform, was launched in 2016 for agricultural commodities. The platform unifies all Agricultural Produce Market Committees to form an integrated national online marketplace for agricultural commodities. Over the past five years, around 1,000 mandis have joined the e-NaM platform and over 150,000 traders have been registered under e-NaM as per data up to March 31, 2021.
The government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) in 2019, with the aim to strengthen energy security for farmers in India, and honour India’s commitment to increase the share of installed electricity capacity based on non-fossil fuel sources to 40 per cent by 2030 as part of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. As per a reply in the Rajya Sabha, a total of 307,002 solar pumps have been installed in the country as of June 31, 2021.
In addition, under Component C of the PM-KUSUM scheme, the government is providing central financial assistance of 30 per cent of the benchmark cost or tender cost, whichever is lower, for the solarisation of existing grid-connected agricultural pumps. In the case of the north-eastern states including Sikkim; hilly states of Himachal and Uttarakhand; UTs of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep, higher central financial support of 50 per cent of the benchmark cost or cost discovered through tenders, whichever is lower, is being provided. The government has further extended the PM-KUSUM scheme to support 2 million farmers for setting up stand-alone solar-based water pumps and another 1.5 million farmers to solarise their grid-connected pumps.
Government initiatives to promote pumps and pumping systems The government recently announced a one district, one product scheme to target exports of $ 400 billion. Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu contributes to 55 per cent of pump production in the country. The Tamil Nadu government has included pumps as one of the products for the project in Coimbatore district. This will pave the way for establishing common facilities for the pump industry in the district. Further, the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association is planning to establish a test laboratory in India for a certification body (CB) marking for pumps. A CB certification is an international certification of electrical and electronic products. It is already mandated by some countries and is set to become the global norm. At present, there are no labs in India to test pumps for CB marking. Indian pump manufacturers have to send their products to China for CB certification testing, which is expensive and time-consuming.
The way forward
The increasing focus on the development of wastewater treatment plants and desalination plants in the country, coupled with various government initiatives for strengthening existing infrastructure and developing new infrastructure projects, is expected to propel demand for pumps and pumping systems in India. To help scale up the sector, effective convergence and coordination between the central, state and local authorities is also required.