'Fibreglass makers need to master global standards'

A major share of the around 305,000-tonne composite material production annually in the country comes from small and medium enterprises

Even as the use of high-end composite materials had gone up in recent times with the defence and aerospace sectors leading the way, the Indian industry is yet to make its presence felt in the global market.

The main reason cited for this is the Indian composite industry is 40 per cent concentrated around manual process, as against the full-scale mechanised industrial processes being practised in the developed markets.

A major share of the around 305,000-tonne composite material production annually in the country comes from the small and medium enterprises.

According to FibreGlass Industries Association of Andhra Pradesh (FIAAP) president K Narayana Reddy, the industry is dominated by many small players and for a big makeover, industry players have to come up with standardised products that can help meet the growing domestic demand for high-end composite products. These are being extensively used in metro rail coaches, defence strategic purposes and solar and wind energy generation systems.

A Selvam, executive secretary of FRP Institute, said with the entry of new players like Arvind Composites and Aditya Birla with its raw material plant, the share of finished composite products was set to grow from the existing levels. The FRP Institute is a non-profit society of the Indian composite manufacturers.

He said the average per capita consumption of composites was at 240 grams, whereas it is 10 kg in the developed markets like the US and up to 2 kg in China.

Composites are materials made by reinforcing plastics with high strength fibres like glass, carbon or aramid fibres. One main characteristic is they are 10-12 times stronger than steel. Due to this, they find applications in the high-tech defence and aerospace sectors; in the making of missiles, civilian aircraft and fast patrol vehicles among others. Their usage leads to fuel savings due to lower body weight of objects besides low maintenance costs.

On the growth this year, Selvam said the composites industry was likely to grow at six per cent and expects the fall in crude oil price to aid it further. Raw material cost accounts for 50-60 per cent of the total cost in composite production.

Composites Park to come up in Hyderabad in 2 years

An industrial cluster of composite manufacturers will be coming up near Hyderabad in the next two years, said Narayana Reddy. Spread in 123 acres, the cluster near Ibrahimpatnam would house 72 units and may attract an investment of Rs 100-200 crore.

"The proposal got delayed due to the state bifurcation and we are now expecting it would become operational in the next two years," said Reddy.

He said undivided Andhra Pradesh had 300 units producing various composite products and the strong defence and aerospace base of Hyderabad would create new opportunities for composite makers.

Meanwhile, the annual International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics (ICERP) 2015 is being organised here from January 29-31. The event organisers are expecting participation of 300 delegates, including 100 from defence manufacturing.