The Eastern regional wing of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF) has hosted the 73rd Indian Foundry Congress concurrently with the Indian Foundry Exhibition IFEX 2025. The event was held in Kolkata’s Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan between February 9, 2025, and February 11, 2025, and welcomed exhibitors from around the globe to Eastern Indian experience of an exciting and stimulating event which focussed on bringing together foundry fraternity while opening the gates for them on latest trends, technologies and markets for the foundry sector while enabling them to explore & forge new business alliances & opportunities. The main highlights were a conglomeration of IFEX, CAST INDIA EXPO, CAST SOURCE Meet, panel discussions, case studies, success stories, NRI Foundry Forum, CEOs Meet, and carefully selected technical presentations. Post-congress, the organisers have arranged for tours, work visits, and special attractive programmes for the participants and spouses with an aim to mix business with leisure.
Avinash P. Dhole, Regional Manager-West, Saru Aikoh Chemicals, shared on an upbeat note, “We have earlier participated in IFEX, and this time as well, we expect, as always, a good amount of footfall. Specifically for IFEX 2025, our focus is on meeting primary smelting businesses, as we feel that Kolkata is an ideal location for Indian expo scenarios, as it is an ideal location to meet the giants of industries like NALCO and BALCO.”
IFEX 2025, being the largest Foundry exhibition in India and spread over 10000 square metres, has had participation from over 200 exhibitors from India & overseas and over ten thousand business visitors coming from varied industries. The International Foundry Exhibition (IFEX) showcased modern foundry technology, equipment, supplies, and services. As a concurrent event to the 73rd Indian Foundry Congress, IFEX offers an excellent platform for Indian and overseas companies to interact and benefit while being introduced to newer avenues with local fervour and global stature. Some of the aluminium value-chain-oriented businesses present at the event were Saru Aikoh Chemicals Private Limited, Electrotherm, Allid Refractory Products India Private Limited, Patel Furnace & Forging Pvt Limited, Arfin India Limited, Orient Ceratech Limited, among others.
Anubhav Taneja, Senior Sales Executive of Electrotherm, an Ahmedabad-based company manufacturing electric furnaces and other metal production equipment, shared on the first day of the exhibition, “We have a clientele of our manufactured pieces of machinery in 52 countries worldwide. Our machinery is of major use in the aluminium scrap melting and recycling process. We have come to IFEX hoping to reach prospective buyers with whom we can showcase our products under one roof. The event started at a slow pace but has taken an exemplary pace as the day progressed. We hope to build a better brand identity from here.”
The organising entity, the Institute of Indian Foundrymen, was set up in 1950 and is registered as a society in West Bengal under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. Commencing operation with a modest outcome, today IIF has turned the table with an enviable national spread of four regional branches and twenty-seven chapters. Its current membership numbers over 3500, inclusive of fellows and members (life Members, Company etc), from providing awareness programmes, conducting research and organising training sessions pertaining to metal casting. IIF is also the publishing body of the monthly Indian Foundry Journal and hosts its annual Indian Foundry Congress (IFC), is referred to as the nodal point of information. It is the one point of reference for the Government to participate in the preparation of standards for foundry materials and products. The IIF is affiliated with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII, New Delhi) and the World Foundry Organization (WFO), UK.
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