Also known as the mother of all industries, the foundries sector now requires huge investments in order to meet the growing industrial demands over the next ten years.

A senior official of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen said that Indian foundries currently utilize only 65 percent of their capacity and that the industry requires huge investments to tap into the remaining 35 percent.

All the industries need foundries to support their manufacturing processes. Foundries are expected to play a crucial role in the new manufacturing policy to create 100 million
additional jobs in the next 10 years, IIF President, K. Samaraj said.

He said that the Indian casting industry has grown by over 43 percent since 2008. It currently produces 10 million tons of cast components in ferrous and non ferrous category, with an annual turnover of about USD18 billion. In order to meet the replacement and export demands, the production will have to increase up to 25 to 30 million tons in the next 10 years.

Investments, he said, are needed to meet this demand. The sector also requires at least five trillion units of electricity.

Samaraj is optimistic that exports will continue in future too. Of the 100 million tons of global production, China tops the list with 45 million; the US comes in second with 12.5 million, and India produces 10 Million tons.