| The historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal (N-deal) | | | | “Participation by the mid-sized equipment |
| sealed last year marked the end of India's nuclear | | | | manufacturers of the country in the nuclear |
| isolation. It also held the promise of vast | | | | sector has been quite limited. To emerge as |
| opportunities for several small and mid-sized | | | | major beneficiaries of the N-deal, small players |
| businesses engaged in the Indian nuclear | | | | have to harness the potential and upgrade their |
| equipment manufacturing sector. As India opened | | | | manufacturing facilities for undertaking the |
| its doors to nuclear trade, innumerable avenues | | | | production of equipment extensively used in |
| and wide power-generation opportunities sprang | | | | nuclear power generation plants and nuclear |
| up for the SME segment in the country. | | | | reactors,” said D Dasgupta, financial analyst at |
| However, very few small businesses in the | | | | CMC in Kolkata. |
| manufacturing sector have the capacity and the | | | | Though, several large power-generation equipment |
| requisite knowledge to venture into the nuclear | | | | companies in India have begun strategising to grab |
| equipment space. Most small companies are | | | | a large share of the nuclear equipment market, |
| unaware of the potential of this sector. The | | | | small manufacturing firms are still lagging behind. |
| benefits of this sector are yet to be leveraged | | | | SMEs have to maintain high quality standards and |
| by Indian SMEs in the manufacturing sector. | | | | an operational safety culture for grabbing nuclear |
| Untapped zone | | | | equipment manufacturing projects. |
| Presently, a small percentage of heavy machinery | | | | “Small companies have to adopt high |
| and equipment manufacturers in India are | | | | standards of work efficiency and acquire |
| engaged in manufacturing nuclear equipment like | | | | specialised knowledge and technical know-how to |
| condensers, pressure vessels, reaction vessels, | | | | produce high-quality nuclear equipment and meet |
| heat exchangers, tanks, coolers and air receivers. | | | | global manufacturing norms,” said V |
| However, the immense growth potential of | | | | Krishnavelu, MD of United Cooling Systems, a |
| India’s nuclear equipment manufacturing | | | | mid-sized cooling tower manufacturer in |
| sector still remains untapped by majority of the | | | | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. |
| small and mid-sized businesses. | | | | |