Lack of infrastructure: a challenge before India's manufacturing

Mumbai, Dec 19 (UNI) The biggest challenge before the country's otherwise growing manufacturing sector is the lack of infrastructure, said Managing Director of Crompton&Greaves S M Trehan.

''The lack of infrastructure is the biggest challenge before the manufacturing sector of the country and it can be resolved only by the political willpower'', Mr Trehan told reporters on the sidelines of the fifth CII Manufacturing Summit here today.

''As far as labour is concerned, labour unions are cooperating in the industrial sector of the country'', said Mr Trehan.

On the acquisition plans of his company, he said ''We've already completed two acquisitions in recent past and we've no plan for any more acquisition at the moment''.

He said that money was not the issue while going for acquisition, but the real issue was how to integrate it which was all dependant on factors like management, bandwith facility and the right time for the same.

The focus market of the company will continue to be Europe and North America, he said.

In reply to another question, he said ''Even though my company is more popular in the country for the fans being manufactured by us, it is a fact that the fan contributed merely less than five per cent of our entire turnover.

He said that his company was expanding its capacities at its plants located in Mandideep near Bhopal and Mumbai.

He hoped that the power sector of the country will grow at a rate of 30-35 per cent during the last quarter of the current financial year.

Talking about his company's performance, he said ''our company has witnessed a growth of 40 per cent on the front of transformer manufacturing during the first half and the trend will continue, during the remaining part of the year too'', he hoped.

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