CeMAT India held 10 to 13 December in Bangalore

Over 9,500 visitors attended the second annual four-day CeMAT India, 250 more than last year. CeMAT India had 152 exhibitors - 61 from India and the remainder from other countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and the UK.

Dr. Andreas Gruchow, member of the Deutsche Messe AG executive board, says international trade fairs do a remarkable job in bringing the latest trends and technology in automation, energy technology, power transmission and intra-logistics under one roof.

"The exhibition has clearly witnessed a flow of ideas between Indian companies and their foreign counterparts, which is a very encouraging sign for Indian industry," he says. "In challenging times, shows like this prove to be an excellent platform in raising the overall sentiment of the industry as it gives an opportunity to share ideas and interface directly with a cross-section of industry."

Gruchow says exhibitors and business visitors participated in the event enthusiastically despite the current economic slowdown. "This is an encouraging sign," he says. "It validates that such a platform is required and that in the long run, it will prove to be fruitful to the industry."

Dipak Ghosh, managing director of local distributor Maminsco, attended the event in partnership with German company Kaup. He believes many of the visitors who attended were mostly there for academic interest rather than for business. "The economic climate would probably be the reason.

"Many potential buyers for materials handling equipment have not finalised their business plans for the future because of the uncertainty."

Ghosh says some participants questioned whether this type of event needed to be held in Bangalore on an annual basis. "It could be moved to different cities to attract new visitors," he comments.

Samir Gandhi, director of Gandhi Automation Pvt Ltd, says CeMAT 2007 helped the company increase its business last year. "We doubled our stall size this year," he says. "For CeMAT 2009, we are thinking of getting a bigger booth.

"This is a global exhibition with quality visitors from industry across the board," he adds.