Taking Coimbatore to greater heights

In the last three years, Coimbatore saw a steady flow of funds, the silent rise of buildings and a swift installation of machinery for a common cause – to increase the engineering capability of the city. Coimbatore’s pump, motor and foundry consortium was one of the 26 clusters approved under the Union Government’s Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme. Apart from Rs. 19 crore contributed by the industries, the cluster received Rs. 39.39 crore as assistance from the Centre and Rs. 1.21 crore from the State Government.

Highest government grants that the city’s industries have received in the last six decades, under one scheme.

This is the highest government grants that the city’s industries have received in the last six decades, under one scheme. G. Rajendran, Managing Director of CRI Pumps, conceived and finalised the project details as president of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association and subsequently took over as president of the Coimbatore Industrial Infrastructure Association to implement the programme. The facilities were dedicated to the industrial fraternity last week. He speaks to M. Soundariya Preetha on cluster approach and the project.

The Centre had identified Coimbatore’s pump and motor sector and foundries as clusters for intervention. So a common project for the two sectors was proposed. “Merit won the project for us. We had a clear roadmap,” says Mr. Rajendran on how Coimbatore got started on the project. Having received the approval the aim was to bring all related units and their associations together and serve all sections of the industry.

With 28 years experience in the pumpset industry, technical knowledge and with a belief in collective decision Mr. Rajendran set out working with six industrial associations. Detailed proposals were drawn up for each work and discussed with all the related associations and their members before implementation. One of the biggest challenges that he faced in the last three years was mobilisation of funds. Of the Rs. 19 crore contribution by the industries, just Rs. 3 crore has come in as bank loan, he points out.

At the end of the project, “I feel satisfied that nearly 30 per cent of the objectives are already achieved.” Explaining the benefits, he says that no small industry here has an opportunity to access high precision, three axis or five axis CNC machining centres. Now, it is possible under public private partnership. The units not only have access but these are available at a lower cost, he points out.

Thus, when the region has a concentration of micro, small and medium-scale units, cluster approach helps in creating infrastructure and equipping the units with world-class facilities. It is better as they are unable to invest and Government assistance is important in such instances. The success of a project also depends on the association that leads the group and how much the stakeholders are willing to share knowledge and support each others growth.

For instance, under this project nearly 90 international pumpset samples have been displayed and these are not water lifting pumps. Thus new products and concepts are introduced. “We create a market space for all. They do not have to compete with each other on just one or two products. They have new sectors to expand to.”

In such projects, the units should recognise the core strength of each other, improve on the common strength and work collectively to achieve new heights. From the government side, more priority and support can be given to the micro and small units. These are one-time investments with clear cut objectives and time frame. The intervention comes to improve the capability in areas where they have no facility at all, he says. The Government should also extend assistance for training and industrial visits.

For Coimbatore, a research and development centre is needed. This is the age of intelligent pumpsets. “We need to improve our strength in motors and electronic controls.” The units should get better awareness on handling different production tools and reducing waste. The units should aim high and constantly upgrade accepting changes.

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