The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Dr Rajeev Singh, has disclosed that Indian utility vendors and services will find a huge market and scope in Africa, especially in South Africa’s energy sector.
The ICC will represent India at the upcoming African Utility Week from 15-17 May in Cape Town, hosting a pavilion of more than 45 suppliers of specialised technology and services for the energy sector.
Dr Singh said: “the primary objective of the ICC is to connect with over 7000 industry professionals across the full spectrum of the sector to address today’s challenges and implement tomorrow’s solutions.”
He says visitors to the Indian pavilion at African Utility Week will be able to “interact and network directly with Indian vendors who have specialized in the energy sector. Visitors can also see the products and services covering generation, transmission & distribution, metering, renewables and new technologies. Visitors can furthermore establish distribution channels.”
Vibrant entrepreneurial culture
Asked what the African continent can learn from the experience of the Indian utility sector, the ICC CEO says: “Indian power sector is undergoing a significant change that has redefined the industry outlook. Sustained economic growth continues to drive electricity demand in India. The Government of India’s focus on attaining ‘Power for all’ has accelerated capacity addition in the country. At the same time, the competitive intensity is increasing at both the market and supply sides (fuel, logistics, finances, and manpower). Total installed capacity of power stations in India stood at 334,146.91 Megawatt (MW) as on February, 2018.”
He continues: “the Ministry of Power has set a target of 1,229.4 billion units (BU) of electricity to be generated in the financial year 2017-18, which is 50 BUs higher than the target for 2016-17. The annual growth rate in renewable energy generation has been estimated to be 27 per cent and 18 per cent for conventional energy. African nations can get a lot of trade benefits if they consider investing and doing business in India.”
Dr Singh added that: “India’s power sector is one of the most diversified in the world. Sources of power generation range from conventional sources such as coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power to viable non-conventional sources such as wind, solar, and agricultural and domestic waste.”
Founded in 1925, the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the leading and only National Chamber of Commerce operating from Kolkata, and one of the most pro-active and forward-looking chambers in the country today. Its membership spans some of the most prominent and major industrial groups in India.
Award-winning energy platform
The 18th annual, multi-award winning African Utility Week will gather over 7000 decision makers from more than 80 countries to discuss the challenges, solutions and successes in the power, energy and water sectors on the continent. Along with multiple side events and numerous networking functions the event also boasts a seven track conference with over 300 expert speakers.
The African Utility Week expo offers an extensive technical workshop programme that is CPD accredited, free to attend, and offers hands-on presentations that take place in defined spaces on the exhibition floor. They discuss practical, day-to-day technical topics, best practices and product solutions that businesses, large power users and utilities can implement in their daily operations.
