In an exclusive interview with CXO XPERTS, Sanjeev Srivastava, Head of Business – Automation at Delta Electronics India, charts the transformation of industrial automation over the past five years—from hardware-centric systems to software-enabled intelligence that slashes downtime and elevates efficiency.
India’s industrial automation market, projected to grow from $17.28 billion in 2025 to $28.73 billion by 2031 at 8.41% CAGR, exemplifies this shift. “The industry has shifted significantly from pure hardware to hardware enabled by software, boosting overall system productivity,” Srivastava explains. “This delivers more efficient products and less downtime, improving the organisation’s performance.”
Srivastava highlights how shop-floor components like sensors, PLCs and HMIs now communicate seamlessly via networking to feed data into analytics platforms—enabling the post-COVID data accumulation to mature into actionable AI insights, powering AI-driven predictive maintenance markets hitting $1.18 billion in 2026 at 15.3% CAGR.
Predictive Maintenance Revolutionises Factory Uptime
At the forefront is predictive maintenance, replacing rigid schedules with real-time intelligence, cutting unplanned downtime by 30-50% and maintenance costs by 10-40% per Deloitte studies. “Instead of annual shutdowns or every six months, factories now run continuously while predicting failures well in advance,” Srivastava elaborates. “Maintenance happens proactively, keeping the entire production line operational.” This shift minimises disruptions, maximising uptime in high-stakes environments, where 60% of automated manufacturers report 26%+ downtime reductions.
Enterprise Challenges: From Push to Pull
Enterprises grapple with implementation decisions: where to deploy cohorts of technologies amid evolving needs. Large firms transition from manual/semi-automated to fully automated lines, driven by machine dependency for speed and quality. “Production must become more machine-dependent than human-dependent, delivering zero-complaint quality,” Srivastava asserts. He cites robotic welding and laser cutting as examples where precision has advanced dramatically, with thousands of I/Os now monitored from a single station—a leap from a decade ago, yielding ROI up to 457% over three years through AI platforms.
Edge computing and IoT have evolved from buzzwords to business necessities, with market demand now actively pulling adoption rather than requiring constant industry push. India’s edge computing market is projected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2025 to $8.3 billion by 2032 at a 29% CAGR, while industrial IIoT expands to $30.35 billion by 2034.
Sectors like electronics manufacturing now demand comprehensive end-to-end automation—from production lines to warehousing and dispatch—while automotive accelerates its transition to fully automated systems. Data centres have emerged as the hottest growth area, propelled by exploding AI workloads that require ultra-efficient cooling and power management solutions.
Delta’s Role in Closing the Gap
Delta actively bridges knowledge gaps through extensive exhibitions, industry forums, webinars, and personalised customer engagements, demonstrating real-world applications of their automation solutions.
“We explain how our products and solutions can directly benefit them—whether through efficiency gains or cost savings—and we maintain regular follow-ups with large customers to refine and optimise their processes over time,” Srivastava shares. This hands-on approach delivers tangible ROI, from precision robotic welding and laser cutting to predictive maintenance interventions, exemplified by Delta’s state-of-the-art Krishnagiri Centre of Excellence for robotics and PLC training in partnership with TNSDC.
Future: Industry-Academia Collaboration for AI Scale
Looking ahead, Srivastava stresses the urgent need for industry-academia partnerships to fuel India’s AI ambitions. “If India wants to become a major AI hub, industry must collaborate with educational institutions now to foster young talent who will drive these technologies forward,” he asserts. “We need to nurture the young crowd to take these responsibilities ahead.”
This human capital investment becomes mission-critical to scale breakthroughs like Maglev drives achieving 100,000 RPM for compressors and pumps, alongside liquid-cooled solutions slashing HVAC footprints by two-thirds—both essential for meeting the impending data centre expansion demands.
Srivastava envisions automation delivering a manufacturing renaissance through superior uptime, zero-defect quality, and dramatic space efficiencies, but only if talent pipelines match technological momentum. By blending cutting-edge engineering with skilled workforce development, India can claim its position as a global automation leader.
