While 3,412 units were installed in India in 2017, 4,771 new units were installed in 2018. With this increase of 39%, India is now in 11th place in terms of global demand - three places higher than last year and therefore now ahead of Singapore, Canada and Thailand. The number of robots in operation rose to around 23,000 units: +21% compared to 2017. "India is one of the fastest growing economies among the emerging markets in Asia," says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics, or IFR for short. "While recent global sales results have been quite moderate, India recorded an impressive growth rate of 39 percent in 2018. The number of robot installations has been increasing rapidly for several years. Between 2013 and 2018, the average annual sales growth rate in India was 20 percent."

Young population demands new jobs

The figures were published in the IFR's statistical yearbook World Robotics 2019. According to the report, the prospects for further increases in robot installations in India are promising. Forecasts predict an increase in gross domestic product of more than 7 percent. Companies are also planning to further expand capacities across all sectors. It is mainly due to the young population looking for new jobs that the country is continuing to expand its manufacturing industry in order to increase employment opportunities. Rising wages and the growing proportion of affluent citizens are the main reasons for a prosperous and promising consumer market in India.

High automation potential

With a 44% share of total installations, the automotive industry remains the largest user sector. However, the report names "General Industry", consisting of the rubber and plastics industry, the metal industry and the electrical/electronics industry, as the strongest growth driver in 2018. The sector is growing by 28 percent.

However, the robot density is still comparatively low: in the automotive industry, there are 99 industrial robots per 10,000 employees. This is less than a quarter of the Indonesian ratio (440 units) and a far cry from China (732 units) and the leader Korea (2,589). In the manufacturing industry, India's robot density is only 4 industrial robots per 10,000 employees. The automation potential is therefore enormous - and so is the market potential for robots.