India is the second largest casting production country in the world after China. According to the Indian Foundry Association, there are over 500000 casting enterprises in India, with approximately 95% of them being small and medium-sized enterprises, and labor-intensive production. In 2019, India's casting production was 11.49 million tons, and in 2020, India's casting production was 11.31 million tons.
The number of direct employment in India's foundry industry is about 500000, and the number of indirect employment is more than 1.5 million. Two thirds of foundry enterprises have no more than 10 employees. Labor burden and raw material advantages are important factors for the rapid development of India's foundry industry in recent years.
The Indian government is committed to increasing the proportion of manufacturing in GDP from the current 15% to 25% in the next decade, which will inevitably bring more development space to Indian foundry. India's policy of supporting the manufacturing industry has driven the modernization of foundries, especially the transition from cupola using coke to induction furnace smelting. In addition, some foundries have converted to coke free cupola furnaces. Some large and medium-sized casting enterprises have begun to shift towards green and intelligent production.
The castings produced in India are widely used in industrial and agricultural machinery, sanitary ware, national defense, aerospace, and wind turbines, among which approximately 40% of the castings are used in the automotive industry, followed by agricultural machinery. According to official data, India is a Balance of trade of castings. In 2020, the overseas sales of Indian castings reached 3.1 billion US dollars, compared with 1.241 billion US dollars in 2020.
