IFA Profile

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Foundry industry in India started around 1940 in Howrah and then later on spread to other states viz. Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamilnadu. At present, there are more than 5,000 foundry units in India, having an installed capacity of approx. 7.5 Mn TPA. The majority (nearly 95%) of the foundry units in India falls under the category of small-scale industry. In West Bengal, almost 500 units are there with an installed capacity of 1 Mn TPA and 95% of these are concentrated in the district of Howrah.

Indian Foundry Association

Indian Foundry Association, incorporated on June 17, 1952, is the oldest among all Indian Associations of Foundry Industries, rendering yeoman services to the overall cause of the Industry. The Association is affiliated with Indian Chamber of Commerce, Calcutta. The Registered Office of the Association is at 4, India Exchange Place – ‘ICC Tower’ (7th Floor) - Kolkata 700001. It is a non-government unlisted entity and is classified as ‘Company limited by guarantee’. The Association's authorized capital stands at Rs 0.0 lakhs and has NaN% paid-up capital which is Rs 0.0 lakhs.

The Association was formed as a Central National Organisation for cooperation among all those organizations engaged as manufacturers in Foundry trade and allied industries. The Associations main aim is to promote and develop Foundry and allied industries and troubleshoot the problems faced by members off and on.

The Association advises members on industry related matters viz., Excise, Sales Tax, Labour Laws, improving quality of production, keeping control in production cost and various other problems as referred by the members.

The Association renders immense help to members in procuring raw material by clubbing the requirements of small foundries and making a single large deal on behalf of the members with the raw material producers on monthly / annual basis at a much lower rate. It also helps members in installing eco-friendly and fuel efficient equipments, so as to achieve pollution norms successfully.

The affairs of the Association are administered by an Executive Council, elected every two years. Several Sub-Committees are constituted under the Executive Council to look after certain specific issues like Finance, Raw Material, Land & Building, Environment, Foundry Park etc. The Executive Council meets every month to review the functioning of the Association.

The Association regularly interacts and works in close cooperation with IIF, EEPC, Pollution Control Board, Regional Associations and TERI etc. It is represented on the Steel Consumers’ Council constituted by the Ministry of Steel and other Government Bodies.

Foundry Park

In order to facilitate modernization and expansion of Foundry Industry, the Association has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), name and styled as ‘Foundry Cluster Development Association’, to implement the “Foundry Park” Project. The Project is to be developed on approx. 924 acres of land on Ranihati-Amta Road in Howrah with Central Government Grant under IIUS 2003 where nearly 200 units of Foundry and allied industries are going to come up.

When completed, the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ Foundry Park Project would alter the horizon of Engineering Industry in the Eastern India, attracting investments to the tune of Rs. 3,000 Crores and creating direct employment of 30,000 and indirect of about 100,000, adding value to the socio-economic scenario of West Bengal.

A peculiarity of the foundry industry in India is its geographical clustering. Some of the major foundry clusters in the country are shown in the map.

Typically, each foundry cluster is known for catering to some specific end-use markets. For example, the Coimbatore cluster is famous for pump-sets castings, the Kolhapur and the Belgaum clusters for automotive castings and the Rajkot cluster for diesel engine castings.

Brief of all the major foundry clusters is provided below

All Clusters

Belgaum Cluster

Located in the state of Karnataka, Belgaum is an important foundry cluster with about 100 foundry units. The geographical spread of the cluster includes Udyambag and Macche industrial areas. The foundry industry at Belgaum came up primarily to cater to the needs of the automobile industry at Pune.

Coimbatore Cluster

Coimbatore, located in Tamil Nadu, is an important foundry cluster in Southern India. The geographical spread of the cluster includes Thanneer Pandal / Peelamedu, Ganapathy, SIDCO, Singanallur, Mettupalayam Road and Arasur Village. The foundry industry at Coimbatore came up mainly to cater to the needs of the local textile and pump-set industries. There are about 600 foundry units in Coimbatore.

Batala & Jalandhar Cluster

Located in the state of Punjab, Batala & Jalandhar are important foundry clusters in Northern India. The majority of the foundry units is in the small-scale and produces grey iron castings. About 15% of the foundry units are also exporting their products. The foundry units at Batala and Jalandhar are predominantly making machinery parts and agricultural implements.

Kolhapur Cluster

Kolhapur, located in the state of Maharashtra, is an important foundry cluster for automotive castings with about 250 units. Historically, this cluster came up to cater to the casting requirements of the local industries like oil engine manufacturing, sugar mills and machine tool industry. The geographical spread of the cluster includes Kolhapur, Sangli, Ichalkaranji and Hatkanangale areas.

The foundry industry is one of the most important employment provider in the country. The total manpower in foundry Industry is approx. 5,00,000 directly and 15,00,000 indirectly. The foundry sector is highly labour intensive and currently generates employment mainly from socially and economically weaker sections of society.