China and India Keep on Booming

By Christiane Hilsmann

Double-digit growth forecast for drive technologies

India and the People's Republic of China remain boom markets for drive and control technologies despite the current crisis. The US market research group ARC predicts that the Indian market for process control systems will grow by about 15 percent by the year 2012. In China, fruitful times lie ahead, especially for manufacturers of AC drives. Their market is expected to grow by a total of 12.9 percent by 2012 to reach a size of almost 1.9 billion US dollars.

During the course of the intense expansion of their infrastructure, it is principally energy providers who are driving this development in both countries. In China, the steel industry's need for cost savings plays an important roll in the strong demand for appropriate drives. The goal here is to curtail growing energy costs in particular.