Periodic testing and maintenance – a mandate for uninterrupted power supply

Talking about the significance and vitalities of T&M instruments, Navin Goliya, Director, Kusam Electrical Industries Limited says, “The energy sector must look for ways to sustain faultless power supply by conducting regular periodic maintenance.”

How are the present trends impacting the demand for T&M instruments in India’s energy sector?

Due to the changing focus of the Government of India for renewable energy generation such as solar energy and wind energy, the demand for testing & measuring instruments elated to solar and wind energy installations are in demand. New instruments to measure the related parameters are developed by manufacturers to meet the growing demand of such instruments. Also, transmission lines rated for 765KV are being increasingly used to transmit large quantity of energy that has led to the development of all related and allied products suitable for use with 765KV lines.

How is the testing and measurement industry responding to the ever-increasing demand for the uninterrupted power sector in India?

Electricity has become indispensable for our very existence; and to carry out our daily routines electricity is necessary for every industry to operate. And everyone needs uninterrupted supply of electricity. To achieve this, the power generating stations, transmission lines, and the distribution stations should operate without faults. To ensure that there are no faults in the entire system they should be checked periodically to ensure that all the instruments/equipments are working appropriately. Test and measuring instruments play a very significant role to ensure that all equipments are functioning properly, thereby ensuring an uninterrupted supply of electricity.

What are the challenges present in the market, especially in terms of cost, technology up gradation, and obtaining raw material?

On the one hand, due to shortage of electronic components world-wide, the cost is going up and the delivery times are shooting up to 4-6 months for components and finished goods, the DGFT has issued circular regulating the import of electronic ICs, which is very difficult to comply. This will lead to further shortage of components, which will affect production of electronic instruments. It will also retard the upgradation process of technology in the field of electronics.

How are increasing imports in imports for electrical equipment impacting the service and quality of T&M in the power sector?

There is a significant increase in the imports of Electrical Equipment’s including Test & Measuring instruments. Due to the government organisations policies to buy equipment’s @L1 there is large scale imports of low cost poor quality instruments in India which cause constant failure of the equipment’s due to poor quality instruments in India further leading to poor maintenance of equipment resulting into constant failure in the equipment. These organisations should change the buying system from L1 to quality products so that the failure rate of the capital goods is reduced. Further, this will increase the demand for quality testing and measuring instruments.

How are government policies helping the industry to increase localisation and domestic manufacturing in this sector?

To help industries to increase localisation and domestic manufacturing in this sector which requires high technology and large volumes for economic production, there should be level playing ground compared to Chinese/Taiwanese manufacturers who dominate the market due to large volumes and least red tapeism. There are least approvals required for setting up a unit in Taiwan or China, least paperwork thereby giving the entrepreneurs time to develop new products/ technologies and expand their business. This can accelerate localisation of production. Otherwise the localisation in this industry will be very slow.