South Korea offers development experience that inspires many developing countries in sustainable development, provision of infrastructure and better services to improve the lives of the people, and transition to a dynamic knowledge economy. South Korea’s economy has had a sharp albeit uneven bounce from the Covid-19 slump in 2020 as exports expanded at their fastest annual pace in 11 years while the consumption recovery has been patchy due to social distancing curbs.
India’s engineering exports to South Korea in 2021-22 recorded US$ 3.08 billion, registering a growth of 58% over 2020-21. India’s major engineering exports to South Korea include Aluminium and products made of Aluminium, Iron and steel, Lead and products made of lead, Auto Components/Parts, Electric Machinery and Equipment, Zinc and products made of zinc, Copper and products made of copper, Industrial Machinery for dairy, agriculture, food processing, textiles, paper, chemicals, etc. India’s exports of Foundry and Forging products during 2021-22 stood at US$ 38.2 million, registering a growth of almost 9% compared to export during 2020-21.
The Indian Engineering sector has witnessed a remarkable growth over the last few years driven by increased investments in infrastructure and industrial production. India overtook US to become the second largest casting producer globally. The Indian foundry industry is producing around 12 million MT of various grades of castings as per international standards. The Indian foundry industry has a turnover of around US$ 19 billion with exports amounting to US$ 3.1 billion. Annual output of the Indian forging industry stood at 20 lakh MT in FY 21 from around 400 forging units countrywide. Thus India has tremendous potential in catering to the needs of the Korean market for foundry and forgings.
Moreover post pandemic the revival in global and Korean economy is expected to boost India’s engineering exports further. India having a FTA with the Korea will definitely have an added advantage in its exports to Korea over its other counterparts.