IFAT India 2018: Indian environmental market in motion

Relieving landfills, winning drinking water, making greater use of waste water—from October 15 to 17, at IFAT India 2018 in Mumbai, the environmental technology industry devoted itself to the challenges of the Indian subcontinent. The focus was on water, sewage, solid waste and recycling. The record attendance of 7,441 visitors (2017: 6,765) proves: the demand for environmental solutions in India is increasing.

Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München states: “The Indian environmental market is gathering momentum. Topics such as seawater desalination, treatment of industrial wastewater and the expansion of the waste disposal systems drive the industry in the country.” Bhupinder Singh, CEO of the organizer Messe Muenchen India speaks of an excellent trade show result: “On a total of 11,000 square meters of exhibition space, 242 exhibitors (2017: 184) unveiled their latest solutions and technological developments for the environmental technology industry. The growth of IFAT India demonstrates India’s potential with regards to environmental technologies.”

International springboard
A potential that also international companies have discovered. Anne-Marie Kervran, Sales Manager at COPEX S.A. confirmed: “We are already in discussion with Indian companies for future representations of our much-needed products in the Indian market.” The countries with the most exhibitors in the Bombay Exhibition Centre – besides India – included: Germany, USA, China, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland. IFAT India’s new Innovation Pavilion, a joint booth for international environmental projects, offered “the ideal platform for international technology transfer and for establishing contacts to potential customers,” said Mark Carey, Chief Executive Officer at Hydro-dis.

Another premiere at the show was the Buyer Seller Forum with the aim to bring together technology providers and buyers. The forum was an ideal framework for individual business meetings that the IFAT India organizers had arranged. Praveen Singh, Sales Manager at Andritz Technology Ltd was enthusiastic: “The Buyer Seller Forum is an exceptional platform to meet, interact and understand potential customers. It creates a win-win situation for buyers and sellers.”

Exchange at expert level
The industry not only exchanged information at the booths, but also in the supporting program. How can India solve the acute lack of water? How can the public and the informal sectors work together more closely in waste disposal? The topics were tailored to the market requirements of the subcontinent. The workshops, panel discussions and specialist presentations were conducted by many partner associations of IFAT India and its parent trade fair IFAT in Munich, Germany. A large number of new supporters, including national and international associations, participated in the show. Claus R. Mertes, Managing Director of Deutsche MeerwasserEntsalzung GmbH (German Association for Desalination) expressed: “IFAT India is an excellent opportunity to get a deeper insight into the current developments in the desalination market of India.”

Also for the first time, the city of Mumbai with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) was co-host of this event. Rajeev Kuknur, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, MCGM: “We were glad to be co-hosting IFAT India 2018 as it is one of the most effective trade fairs for environmental technologies and one of the best ways to choose the latest technologies for our future needs.”

In 2019, IFAT India will take place from October 16 to 18—again in the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

More information on IFAT India is available at ifat-india.com.