In this ever-changing landscape of global business, India, the world’s largest democracy, continues to shine as a ‘bright spot’ on the global map, despite geopolitical conflicts and economic headwinds all around. The country is poised for national elections in 2024, and the forecast is for a historical third term for the incumbent party under PM Narendra Modi. A stable government and, therefore, systematic policy implementation will ensure India will retain its position as one of the fastest-growing nations in the world.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest World Economic Outlook, projected the economic growth in India to remain strong at 6.5 percent in both 2024 and 2025. Over the last four years, net foreign direct investment as a share of GDP has been three times higher in India than in China. India has also been signing free trade agreements (FTA), with pacts already finalised with Australia, the UAE, and Mauritius and talks underway with Canada, Oman, the U.K., and four other European nations. The country wishes to capitalise on its young population and stable government by investing in the manufacturing sector after already seeing massive growth in the IT services sector. Still, to fulfil India’s economic potential, more reforms are required. A focus on safety regulations as well as environmental sustainability is going to be challenging in a “price first” culture.
As with any developing country, India is also prone to imposing restrictions on trade to address international challenges to domestic demand.
The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has started implementing compulsory Quality Control Orders (QCO) across 186 categories. These, primarily related to goods sold in India, must be tested and clear the BIS standards for domestic industry. This is a strong move, as it ensures there will be a fixed standard across the country. The Sealing Industry does not have any compulsory BIS standards yet; however, the Committee has been establishing voluntary standards. The newly released IS 17796 Specification was introduced in 2023 for Compressed Non-Asbestos Fibre (CNAF) Based Gasket Jointing Sheets followed by updated standards of Rubber Gaskets, Fluid Power O-Rings, PTFE and Graphite being introduced soon after. The BIS has also allowed free downloads of their standards through their website. It is expected that the next BIS Gasket and Packing Committee meeting will be held at the end of March this year as we continue to have Indian-specific technical requirements for Domestic Energy projects.
The Chemtech World Expo 2024 is also scheduled for March 4–7, 2024, in Mumbai, and is one of the major events on the calendar.
This year, Messe Duesseldorf India and Global Flow Control have announced the first India chapter of the Valve World show series, Valve World Expo India, scheduled to be held on September 19–20, 2024, in Mumbai.