India looks to accelerate manufacturing growth

At Hannover Messe 2015 opening, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi touts a more open economy. Modi, whose nation is the 2015 Partner Country, made an impassioned speech about the role a "new India" will play in global manufacturing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Modi in the same way she will welcome President Barack Obama when the United States will be the Partner Country at Hannover Fair in 2016.

By Bob Vavra, Content Manager, CFE Media April 13, 2015

A spectacular floating laser light show, a colorful and dynamic Indian cultural presentation, and an animated lion from Partner Country India opened Hannover Messe 2015 Sunday night in Hannover, Germany.

Once the pyrotechnics were complete, the world’s largest trade event officially opened and got down to business. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose nation is the 2015 Partner Country, made an impassioned speech about the role a "new India" will play in global manufacturing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Modi in the same way she will welcome President Barack Obama in 2016 when the United States will be the Partner Country.

The opening featured an orchestrated light event where an on-stage performer seemed to manipulate and in some cases climb around and through the lights. It also included had five floating orbs from Hannover Messe automation company Festo, which has built its reputation at the annual event by making objects float and fly.

The 2015 Hermes Award for innovation was also presented at the opening ceremony. This year the award was presented to Wittenstein AG for its development of the Galaxie, a high-performance gearhead with independently moveable gear teeth. The arrangement of the teeth allow the entire surface of each tooth to engage with the fixed outer gear, which company official said creates a force contact six times greater than that of a typical gearhead.

"The Galaxie outperforms all other gearbox designs in terms of torque density, torsional stiffness, zero backlash and compact form. It is also more energy-efficient and is suitable for a range of applications, including machine tools, robots, wind turbines and textile machines," company officials said in their nominating form.

Before Modi took the stage, Indian music and dance were on display in a kaleidoscope of colors, lights and movement that brought performers to every corner of the 5,000-seat Hannover Congress Center. The show also featured an animated lion, a symbol of India’s "Make in India" theme for this year’s Hannover Messe.

"The lions are a symbol of a new India," Modi told the audience. "We want to accelerate economic growth and create jobs for our youth. We want to create world-class industry and infrastructure. We know we will be more successful when we do this in partnership with the world. India is open and ready to embrace the whole world.

"We are taking sweeping steps to open up more of our economy," Modi added. "We will make it easy to do business in India."

– Bob Vavra is content manager, Plant Engineering, bvavra@cfemedia.com 

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