IFAT India 2019: reflecting the thriving spirit of the Indian environmental technology industry

9633 Fachbesucher und 311 Aussteller nahmen an der IFAT India 2019 teil
© Messe München

9633 trade visitors and 311 exhibitors – these are the record figures for the seventh edition of IFAT India 2019, which ended on October 18, 2019 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Mumbai. At the top of the agenda of India's leading environmental technology fair was the question of how technology and innovation can lead the change towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The exhibition also focused on solutions for developing sustainable waste management and modernizing the environmental infrastructure.

 

Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München, draws a positive conclusion: “The visitor numbers at IFAT India have continued to grow further this year. The increase of 29 % underlines that the show has once again proved to be the most important solution platform for India's pressing environmental challenges.” Most visitors – 97 % – came from India. Germany, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Austria (in this order) were among the top visitor countries.

 

In terms of exhibitors, international participation jumped by over 30 %, underlining the growing demand on the subcontinent. With a record participation from 23 countries, it was the most international IFAT India ever with a first-time pavilion from Canada. Bhupinder Singh, Managing Director of Messe Muenchen India: “IFAT India 2019 brought together national and international companies like no other event in the country. It pooled know-how and technologies from across the world in one place with the aim to jointly and sustainably advance the development of India.”

 

In total, the number of exhibitors grew by 29 % (2018: 242 exhibitors), the area increased by 32 % to 14 500 m² (2018: 11 000 m²).

 

Diversifying the water supply

Seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, closing the water cycle—in view of the current water crisis in Chennai, solutions for diversifying the water supply were particularly in demand. A start-up on the new future platform experience.science.future., which had its debut at IFAT India, also introduced a new product for water extraction. “We used IFAT India to present our innovation to the Indian market for the first time: a mobile and modular machine that can produce water of varying quality from moisture in the air,” says Martin W. Kolodziejczyk, Managing Director of the Berlin-based start-up greentecAQUA. “The fair provided us with many business contacts – the ideal market entry.”

IFAT India bewies sich erneut als die wichtigste Lösungsplattform für die drängenden Umweltherausforderungen Indiens
© Messe München

Waste management, handling of e-waste, sustainable cities

The fair also covered the areas of e-waste and waste-to-energy and was well complemented by the extensive supporting program. “The e-waste sector in India is growing rapidly, creating a demand for environmentally sound e-waste recycling and thereby opening up a lot of opportunities in green jobs as well as technical innovations and entrepreneurship,” says Ms. Deepali Sinha Khetriwal, Managing Director of Sofies Sustainability Leaders Pvt. Ltd.

 

Also on the agenda were sustainable solutions and best-practices for development of urban infrastructure in India. This was underlined by the respective visits of Chief Guest Mr. Suresh Prabhu representative for G7 and G20 and was also echoed by Mr. Praveen Pardeshi, Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai.

 

The next edition of India's leading environmental technology fair will take place from October 13 to 15, 2020 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

 

In early 2020, a new solution platform for northern India will be launched: from January 29 to 31, 2020, Messe München will celebrate the premiere of IFAT Delhi taking at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi –  co-located with the World Sustainable Development Summit 2020.

 

www.ifat-india.com