The Indian pump industry is poised to become a robust market with diverse applications across various infrastructure sectors. There is a growing focus on manufacturing higher quality and energy-efficient pumps through innovations and integration with renewable energy. These pumps are widely relied upon in the agricultural sector, municipal segments such as water and wastewater, and industrial segments such as power, oil and gas, and chemicals. They are primarily categorised into two types: centrifugal pumps and positive displacement pumps. Of these, centrifugal pumps constitute the maximum market share of around 95 per cent. These pumps are commonly used for regulating boiler water, circulating hot water, boosting pressure, etc., for low-viscosity fluids. Meanwhile, positive displacement pumps have a smaller market share of 5 per cent and operate cyclically, driven by pistons, screws, gears, rollers, or diaphragms. These pumps prevent fluid from recirculating back to the pump inlet.
The application of these pumps across different sectors depends on various factors such as the viscosity, type, temperature, and abrasiveness of the fluid to be pumped. Moreover, support from government programmes and innovations by pump manufacturers have played played a significant role in further expanding their usage.
Agricultural sector
In the agricultural sector, pumps are used in various irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation, sprinkler systems, and piped watering of fields. These pumps help in achieving the required efficiency by providing a pressurised flow of water, thereby speeding up the cultivation process. Further, the sector is turning towards the use of solar water pumps – which is an ideal solution given the erratic grid power supply – and serving as a substitute for diesel-powered pumps. Their adoption by farmers is being supported by Components B and C of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), an initiative by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Under this programme, Component B enables the installation of standalone solar-powered agricultural pumps while Component C pushes the solarisation of grid-connected agricultural pumps. As of November 30, 2023, a total of 97,147 standalone pumps have been sanctioned and 278,114 standalone pumps have been installed under Component B. Moreover, 134,286 individual pump solar (IPS) and 2,912,466 feeder level solar (FLS) have been sanctioned and 1,894 IPS and 2,700 FLS have been installed under Component C. These solar pumps boost crop yields by ensuring continuous water supply to fields and are particularly beneficial for small-scale and community-based irrigation.
Several states are taking active steps to promote the use of solar pumps in the sector. For instance, on December 27, 2023, the administrative council of Jammu & Kashmir approved the solarisation of 4,000 existing individual grid-connected agricultural pumps under Component C of PM-KUSUM. The solar power plant capacity for these pumps would be in the range of 1 kW to 15 kW. Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh government plans to replace the existing diesel-powered pumps with solar pump sets with capacities ranging from 2 hp to 10 hp. It aims to provide 30,000 solar power pumps of varied capacities in 2023-24.
Among private players, Shakti Pumps India Limited has been awarded a contract by the Department of Agriculture, Uttar Pradesh, to deploy 10,000 solar water pumps under Component B of PM-KUSUM in September 2023. This contract is worth Rs 2.93 billion and includes the supply, installation, and commissioning of solar water pumping systems. Additionally, the Bhopal government approved the Mukhyamantri Krishak Mitra Yojana in September 2023 to provide permanent agricultural pump connections of 3 hp or more to farmers or groups of farmers in the state. It aims to set up 10,000 pumps under the scheme.
Water and wastewater sector
The demand for pumping systems in the water and wastewater sector has been on the rise due to the aggravated water requirement in cities, towns and villages. The main areas where pumps are being utilised are water supply, sewage and drainage systems. The sector primarily deploys centrifugal pumps, including subcategories such as vertical turbine pumps, vertical volute pumps, multistage pumps, jet monobloc pumps, end-suction pumps, non-clog pumps, and horizontal non-clog end-suction pumps. However, progressive cavity and positive displacement pumps are also used in some water and wastewater systems.
In sewage management, the use of submersible pumps has also become quite prevalent. They are installed in water and sewage treatment plants (STPs) where wastewater circulation is required and in households at higher altitudes where water supply is difficult or not connected to the municipal sewer. These heavy-duty pumps are manufactured with durable materials such as stainless steel. They are available in five types: submersible motor pumps with a single vane impeller, torque flow pumps, pumps for dry installation, pumps with diagonal impellers and closed-coupled pumps. Similarly, sewage pumping stations (SPSs) are a common component in wastewater treatment projects. The government is taking active measures to build a robust sewage infrastructure and pumping systems play a critical role in achieving this. For instance, under the National Mission for Clean Ganga, as of October 2023, approximately 95 per cent of the work on the National River Restoration Project for cleaning up the Chambal river in Kota has been completed. The project aims to construct six SPSs and two STPs. These pumping stations play a critical role in enhancing the effectiveness of river cleaning efforts. Similarly, the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project Stage II aims to construct SPSs with a capacity of 10 million litres per day at Harvey Road in Mumbai. These SPSs would facilitate effective sewage treatment before its disposal into the sea. In November 2023, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai invited bids for the project works.
Industrial sectors
Power
The power industry utilises pumps for diverse processes such as oil processing, lubrication, and cooling. Centrifugal pumps are the predominant choice, along with other subcategories such as boiler feed water pumps, horizontal booster pumps, ground-signal-ground (GSG) radically split barrel casing pumps, high-pressure temperature single-stage barrel casing boiler feed pumps, and concrete volute pumps. Further, several power firms are undertaking projects under PM-KUSUM to replace existing grid-connected pumps with solar pumps. In a recent development, in October 2023, Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited awarded a contract worth Rs 1.49 billion to Shakti Pumps to supply, install and commission solar water pumps under Component C of PM-KUSUM. This project includes the replacement of present grid-connected pumps with direct current pumps that would operate on solar energy. The surplus power would be fed back into the grid.
Oil and gas
Pumps play a crucial role in various stages of the oil and gas industry for various processes such as the transfer of fuel from the ground to ships, refineries, or storage and speeding up of the fluid flow from one point to another. The entire process of oil extraction, shipping and refining necessitates appropriate and effective pumping equipment. Therefore, high-pressure and high-grade alloy pumps are in demand in this industry, and the most commonly used types are centrifugal pumps, reciprocating plunger pumps, progressive cavity pumps, gear pumps, diaphragm pumps and metering pumps. Moreover, positive displacement pumps are used to transfer liquids between two points or provide suction to remove fluids from wells. All these pumps should have the capacity to withstand extremely high and low temperatures and pressures. Their material should be non-reactive with any chemicals that they may come in contact with.
Chemicals
Pumps have a critical role in facilitating continuous production and ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations in the chemicals industry. They are used for transporting a variety of chemicals within the plants while handling corrosive and potentially hazardous chemicals. Commonly used pumps in this industry are plastic centrifugal pumps, positive displacement pumps, and diaphragm and turbine pumps. These pumps are made from materials that prevent pitting and corrosion, thereby reducing the risk of low performance or pump failure.
Future roadmap
The pump industry in India exhibits strong potential in tapping the export market by strategically investing in technology and innovations and harnessing renewable energy. Currently, there is a lack of indigenous technology interventions in the market and the majority of markets across India depend on imported pumps. To this end, the Indian Pump Manufacturers’ Association is pushing the development of high-grade pumps, and the Scientific and Industrial Testing and Research Centre will soon develop high-value slurry pumps. To support this initiative, a project worth Rs 128.4 million has been taken up, with a grant of Rs 102.7 million from the central government.
Given these initiatives and emerging use cases, the outlook for the pump industry seems promising.
Shubhangi Goswami
