Deliberating on Engineering Design Services would boost the engineering and manufacturing sector in West Bengal: CII

The Engineering Design Services (EDS) industry over the last couple of years has moved from one off project based delivery to a partnership model. Many new industries are vying for EDS utilization. The growth of the industry is fast and expected to be double digit in next couple of years. The situation has created a plethora of new business & operational models, novel utilities, innovative frameworks, and immense knowledge base. Today Indian Engineering Services Companies are helping through innovative ways setting up operations or implementation of projects of global Engineering Giants.

Against this backdrop, CII Eastern Region organized a Conference on Engineering Design Services (EDS) today in Kolkata. The central theme of the conference was “Future Growth Potential”. This was the first of its kind initiative in the eastern region to deliberate on the present status and future opportunities in engineering design services sector.

Addressing the Conference, Mr Anand Sen, Vice President – TQM & Shared Services, Tata Steel Limited & Chairman, CII Jharkhand State Council stated that optimism, new ideas and innovation are the three most critical attributes for the growth and development of the EDS industry. He said that in India, the market is governed by earlier standards which prevent the companies to become absolutely successful in their endeavours. The companies must find solutions based on new age materials. Organisations must evolve both on the service and technical font to become global leaders in EDS.

Mr Tamal Dasgupta, Managing Director, Webel and Chairman, ICTE Subcommittee, CII Eastern Region avowed that The Indian IT – ICT - ITeS industry has established itself firmly as the spearhead of the country’s global ambitions. Engineering Design Services is an area where India has good growth potential. The manufacturing industry in developed countries is witnessing flat growth. They are eyeing the emerging markets. As they push the products they also have started designing and developing their product in outsource mode in the emerging market as a survival strategy.

Mr Dasgupta stated that manufacturers – aircraft, automobiles, white goods – are gravitating towards Asia looking for newer markets as well as cheaper development and design solutions. The Engineering Design Services vertical will cash on the same to have a substantial growth as the Indian IT outsourcing market had seen a few years back.

He affirmed that the opportunity of growth in infrastructure in the eastern part of India is immense which will require a dedicated support of this sector. This can generate enough business opportunities for the Engineering Services companies.

Mr R K Agrawal, Deputy Chairman, CII Eastern Region affirmed that India with its natural competitive advantage is likely to play a big role in various segments of the engineering services industry. The Indian engineering industry is rapidly growing as a major outsourcing hub with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 30 per cent. Automotive, telecom and aerospace are the major verticals that spend heavily on outsourcing engineering services. The EDS companies will have to have winning strategy to conquer the market.

Mr Arup Dasgupta, Vice Chairman, ICTE Subcommittee, CII Eastern Region and Managing Director, Metalogic Systems Private Limited said that EDS has been one of the early adopters of the globalisation phenomenon. The increasing sophistication and maturity of the EDS industry has meant a significant change in customer perception of service providers. Customers have begun to view service providers as strategic partners owing to greater confidence in their EDS capabilities.

Dr Saugat Mukherjee, Regional Director, CII Eastern Region stated that to boost the engineering and manufacturing sector in West Bengal, an urgent need was felt to deliberate on the Engineering Design Services. Capability building in EDS would help in creating high precision mother industry and promoting investment in the manufacturing space.

Dr Mukherjee further stated that to address the issues and challenges in EDS industry, CII has created a core group in the state to promote the sector and today’s forum is the first of its kind initiative in the Region. The core group would also work towards upgrading the basic skills set required by the sector.