Hannover Fair likely to give strong push to PM Modi's pet Make in India scheme

NEW DELHI: The Hannover Fair — that is being billed as a platform to push ‘ Make in India’ initiative with India as the official partner country — will have unique features including participation by Indian technological giants and over 17 states of the country for the first time ever.

Narendra Modi who will inaugurate this edition of the Fair on April 12 jointly with the German Chancellor. Modi hopes that that the gala event will provide his government necessary platform to seek high-end technology and investments to boost domestic economic growth, official sources told ET. Modi will also travel to Berlin during the same trip to Germany before flying off to Canada.

While India was the official partner country of the Hannover Fair in 2006, this edition of the show will feature unique elements including participation by Indian technological giants TCS and Infosys. Besides, over 17 Indian states could be present at the Fair with an eye to seek investments as well as look for markets of their products, Mehul Lanvers-Shah, Managing Director, Hannover Milano Fairs India told ET from Bangalore. “The shape and size of this edition of Hannover Fair will be different,” informed Shah.

Nearly 400 Indian firms will be showcasing their strength at the Fair, according to Lanvers-Shah. The Indian delegation will include around 120 top business honchos, over 100 Union and state-level ministers including Chief Ministers of various states, and bureaucrats. Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative will be the focal theme, with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) hoping to attract investors and foreign direct investment (FDI).

The focus themes at Hannover Fair 2015 are industrial automation and information technology; energy and environmental engineering; industrial subcontracting and production engineering; and power transmission and control. India will get the opportunities to highlight its promise by occupying the central area of the fair at Hannover. As many as six thousand exhibitors from over a 100 countries are expected to turn up at Hannover, with visitors from India alone could cross 2,000.

Visitors to the fair will witness digitally networked production plants, ingenious new production processes, and next-generation industrial robots live in action. They will see collaborative robots with sensor systems so advanced that they can work right alongside their human counterparts without any safety barriers. And they will see IT-based automation solutions that will bring fundamental change to all in-factory organizational processes.