About a dozen companies are considering forming a consortium to meet the increasing need for technically skilled and trained personnel of the automation industry in the country. “At the kick-off meeting, all the participating companies in the consortium welcomed the move and expressed willingness to participate in this consortium. They felt colleges like National Institute of Engineering (NIE) should collaborate with automation industry for training graduates to meet its need for trained personnel,” NIE Principal G L Shekar said.
Automation market in India is approximately Rs 18 billion ($ 360 million). This is expected to grow with 15 per cent CAGR over the next five years. The current automation in manufacturing industry is less than 10 per cent of the total capital employed in process and machinery. It is expected to rise to 25 per cent in next five years. “If India has to be recognised as a major manufacturing hub in Asia Pacific, the market has to prepare with investment in automation in order to deliver quality products at a quicker time.
Every year, nearly 20,000 jobs need to be filled in this sector. As there are no readymade automation engineers, the positions are filled recruiting fresh graduated engineers from mechanical, instrumentation and electrical and electronics disciplines.
