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[June 2008]
Indian Ceramics Confirms Ahmedabad Venue for 2009
The organisers of Indian Ceramics 2009 have confirmed that the venue for next year’s exhibition – the 4th Ceramic Materials, Equipment, Plant & Technology Exhibition – will be The Karnavati Club in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, with the event running over three days from 4-6 March 2009.
The Karnavati Club is a well known and respected centre, much used by the Gujarati business community. Established in 1989, it is located on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway and now covers a total area of around 46,500 square metres. A broad range of modern facilities are offered throughout the club and office bearers are drawn from established professionals across Ahmedabad, voted in a recent SundayET poll of Indian CEOs as one of the top five futuristic cities in the country.
“Having taken the decision to relocate Indian Ceramics to Gujarat, we are fortunate to have secured The Karnavati in Ahmedabad as our next venue,” commented Exhibition Director, Kevin Hudson. “It provides the exhibition space that we require, decent break-out areas for the conference and other meetings, full catering and hospitality support and general facilities which are superior to most exhibition centres.”
The organisers report that since announcing the move up to Gujarat some weeks ago, the reaction of exhibitors and visitors has been positive. Some of the major international players are in the process of finalising their space requirements and a large area is currently being negotiated for a group of key Chinese suppliers to the ceramic manufacturing industry. Furthermore, for the first time, there has also been strong interest from elsewhere in the Far East, including Korea.
Indian Ceramics is the only event to be dedicated to all sectors of the industry in India and to have a significant showing from both domestic and internationally based suppliers. The experience built up since the inaugural event in 2006 has proved crucial. “In over three years’ continuous data research and liaison with the industry, particularly in Gujarat, we have built up a very good picture of the manufacturing base,” said Indian Ceramics’ Paul Ratcliffe. “We know that with all the investment required to take ceramics further forward in India, these manufacturers are always keen to see new technology and to meet the innovators. We will provide them with just such an opportunity in March next year and what’s more, right on their doorstep.”
There has been a good level of interest in the newly announced features for 2009, namely IBaRT (India Brick & Roof Tile) and India-ETC (1st Engineering & Technical Ceramics Expo).
With well over 1,000 kilns in Gujarat for firing bricks, the potential for new business in the heavy clay technology sector is tremendous. Brick manufacturing here is still substantially low tech, manually based and inefficient. Indian producers need better techniques and more modern equipment and IBaRT has been introduced in order to facilitate this. Interest from new exhibitors has resulted already, including one or two specialists from Europe.
Engineering and technical ceramics technology will find its home in India-ETC and this, too, is a timely addition, said the organisers. Including the manufacture of refractories and insulating ceramics, these are important products both for the State of Gujarat – with its proliferation of light and heavy industry as well as infrastructure and energy issues – and the ceramic and allied scene in general.
Good news for the refractories and technical ceramics sector is the go-ahead being given for a new Foundry Cluster site close to Ahmedabad. This is now likely to go either to Kathawada or Santej and will be home to around 70 companies in what has been a successful period for orders. In total, there are around 400 foundries sited in and around Ahmedabad and the dynamism being demonstrated in this business is a very encouraging sign for the ceramic producers supplying it.
Meanwhile, investment in Ahmedabad as a City for Business has continued apace over the past couple of years. The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport has recently put a new Domestic Arrivals Terminal into operation and work is now underway on the new International Terminal Building Complex which is set to open in the first quarter of 2009. Via this, 10 other airports and numerous sea ports, Gujarat is well connected to major cities in the USA, EU, Asia and other Indian metropolitan areas.
The home of Indian Ceramics 2009 is also home to CGCRI Naroda Centre, the highly respected research body for national ceramic activities and lead organisation in the running of the Gujarat Ceramic Cluster since 2000. Since initiation with 500 units in the organised sector, ceramic production in Gujarat has witnessed really strong progress in areas like improvement in productivity and quality, reduction of waste at different stages of production, cost cutting in production and improvement in export potential.
With ease of access to the exhibition, Indian Ceramics 2009 now links equally to the non-organised sector as well. This is not only a highly desirable goal in its own right, the show organisers point out, but also a fantastic opportunity for materials, machinery and know-how suppliers. The Gujarati non-organised ceramic sector is comprised almost entirely of SMEs and manufactures a staggering 37% of India’s total ceramic output.
“The 2009 exhibition aims to showcase what is both best and most appropriate for each sector and to give the Indian ceramic industry the tools it needs as it prepares its plans for the new decade ahead,” said an Indian Ceramics spokesman.
Interested companies can e-mail the Indian Ceramics 2009 team at enquiry@gattacaltd.com for details on participation.
www.indian-ceramics.com
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