PlastIndia 2009 - The Future Has Arrived
Winning against the perceived market slowdown, the event did exceptionally well.
AC Nielsen-ORG Marg has ranked PlastIndia at par with any other International Fair and has declared it as the second best plastics event in the world. The seventh edition of this triennial expo was scheduled from Feb 4-9, 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, and winning over the perceived market slowdown, the event did exceptionally well.
The Indian Plastics Industry has been growing at a phenomenal rate of 15 percent over the years and with its true potential harnessed, it is all set to reach the 12.5 MMT consumption mark, making India the 3rd largest consumer of plastics by 2010. To match this figure, India would require 30,000 new machines and around $ 9.5 billion of project investment. Amid these growth prospects, PlastIndia 2009, organized by PlastIndia Foundation, landed as the much sought after platform for the plastic related companies all over the world.
Show Unveiled
Curtains were raised at PlastIndia 2009 on Feb 4, at the Hamsadhwani Theatre, Pragati Maidan. Pratibha Patil, President of India, inaugurated the event with Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilisers & Steel.
With ‘The Future Is Here’ as its theme, PlastIndia 2009 featured 20 country pavilions. Spread over an area of 8,00,000 sq. ft, the event extended through 16 halls and 15 hangers at Pragati Maidan. These halls were categorised under different segments like Major Machinery & Ancilliary Equipment Exhibitors, Messe, South East Asian Pacific Region, Dies, Mould & Mould Base Manufacturers, Finished Processed Goods Exhibitors, Raw Material Exhibitors and Small & Medium Enterprises.
Running Concurrent
Providing an opportunity for national and international players to meet and exchange ideas, there were events and conferences organized alongside PlastIndia 2009:
Proplast: An integral part of PLASTINDIA 2009, Proplast showcased the remarkable progress made by the India plastics processing industry. Spread over an area of approximately 11,000 sq. m, it served as a one-stop shop for business in the entire plastics processing chain right from sourcing managers from OEMs, international FMCG companies, retail chains, automobile manufacturers to product packers and so on.
India–USA Plastic Industry Summit: The Summit, organised by PlastIndia Foundation, SPI-USA and CII for Strategic Cooperation, Market Sharing and Trade Complementation between the two countries was aimed to add growth prospects and complement trade in a positive way. With this theme the Summit took place at Hotel Taj Palace on the second day of the event.
International Conference: A Two-Day International Conference was held from 6 February at The Lalit (Hotel Intercontinental, The Grand). The conference was aimed at attracting the attention of the entire global business fraternity and it brought together eminent scholars and industrial experts to promote the development and growth of the Indian Plastics industry.
Asian Plastic Recycling & Waste Management Conference: This conference took place in Hall 8, Pragati Maidan on 7 February. The event was attended by industry professionals, policy makers, municipality officers, environment ministry officials, NGOs and concerned citizens from across the world. Experts shared some of the latest ideas and projects on plastic recycling. They also commented on new technologies and challenges for recycling plastics back to food grade quality materials with ideas and studies on PET and HDPE.
The event also featured new initiatives like The Energy Saver Pavilion, The Recycling Pavilion, Agri Park, The End User Pavilion, etc.
Business Benefits
PlastIndia 2009 witnessed more than 1,300 exhibitors from all over the world. As we tried to explore the reason behind participation at PlastIndia, most of the exhibitors had a common reply – ‘This is the largest event in Asia. Where could we find a better platform to launch our new products and meet the leaders from the plastic industry!’
“Plastindia, obviously has been the largest exhibition related to plastics and polymers. We have been a constant participant of this Show and have benefited in all its editions. We believe that for the Indian market, this is the number one show,” revealed Vishal Vora, XL Plastics, an exhibitor at the Show.
“But what about the ‘Slowdown?” We asked. “Slowdown has not at all affected the business prospects in India and the plastic industry is growing at an impressive rate,” affirmed Denish Kansagara, CEO-Export, Sagar Polymers.
“India is a growing market,” added David Liu, Sales Engineer, Labthink Instruments Co. Ltd. “Slowdown is in the mind of the people, it is not in the process. Look at the number of exhibitors and even the growing throng of serious visitors, do you think there is a recession!” He commented. The Show has ruled over all consequences of so-called recession.
One of the main objectives of the exhibitors behind participation in PlastIndia 2009 was to showcase the recent developments and make new contacts. “We are here to show the recent developments in our product line. We have launched new generation plasma treatment and corona treatment systems,” said Rohit Deshpande, Director, PBJ-Industrial Electronics Pvt. Ltd.
There were also several first time exhibitors at the event. These companies aimed at gaining more information on the industry, meeting the leading players and making their presence felt. “This is the first time we have participated in PlastIndia, though we have visited the show earlier. We believe it is the largest show across the country and as India is an emerging market, the show has to be successful,” stated Dirk Nussgen, International Sales-Marketing Manager, Gehr Plastics.
Bhavin Industries has recently entered the Plastic Industry and found PlastIndia to be an apt platform for gathering information on how the market works. “We have come up with some special masterbatches and are showcasing them in this Show,” said Manish B. Vaidya, GM-Marketing, Bhavin Industries.
Due to the paid entry process, the quality of visitors at the Show was more serious and business oriented. “People today are trying to get with the times are more educated about the advanced technologies and PlastIndia being a business oriented exhibition sees more of such focused visitors,” asserted Deshpande. And talking about the on-spot deals, Vora disclosed, “We sold four of our machines in the first two days of the Show. Infact several other serious enquiries are also in the pipeline. The Show has been a complete success for our company.”
