The growing manufacturing industry and rising demand for power for commercial projects and other activities are the major growth drivers for the India diesel genset market. Due to the aforementioned factors, the industry is projected to generate $1,831.2 million revenue by 2030, advancing at a CAGR of 9.4% during 2021–2030.
The closure of offices and factories reduced the demand for diesel gensets in 2020. Railway and metro boards are also major users of diesel gensets, and since they were affected in 2020 due to the pandemic, the market growth was hit further. For example, the Indian Railways suspended its passenger services due to the pandemic situation. Moreover, the major states affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, saw the closure of industrial hubs, which resulted in the negative impact on the Indian market for diesel genset in 2020.
The diesel genset market of India has been classified into 5 kilovolt-Ampere (kVA)–75 kVA, 76 kVA–375 kVA, 376 kVA–750 kVA, and above 750 kVA, based on power rating. In terms of both volume and value, the largest share in the market has been held by the 5 kVA–75 kVA category in 2021. This can be mainly attributed to the large-scale adoption of these variants in the commercial sector as they are able to suffice the power requirements here. Further, these gensets are rather popular in the telecom sector; thus, with the increase in the installation of telecom towers, the demand for 5kVA–75kVA gensets is rising.
Moreover, the market for diesel gensets in India is categorized into commercial, residential, and industrial. Among these, the commercial category is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period (2022–2030). This will mainly be due to the growing number of construction projects related to railways and roads, retail stores, shopping centers, business parks, and petrol pumps. Thus, the growth in the commercial sector is expected to provide impetus to the demand for diesel gensets, primarily medium- and high-power variants.
Geographically, Uttar Pradesh is estimated to hold the largest share in the diesel genset market of India in 2021, and it is expected to retain its position during the forecast period. This can be mainly ascribed to the increasing investments in the telecom sector and rapid development of commercial infrastructure and residential facilities. For instance, according to the article published in Business Standard in August 2021, the Yogi government is focusing on five major developmental projects related to roads and airways, namely Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway from Chitrakoot to Etawah, Ganga Expressway, which will connect western Uttar Pradesh with its eastern part; Gorakhpur–Azamgarh Link Expressway, and an international airport in Jewar, near Noida.
Major players in the market are adopting product launches in order to remain competitive. For instance, in June 2020, Greaves Cotton Limited launched technologically advanced smart gensets, named Greaves Genius, across power ratings of 5 kVA–1,250 kVA. Greaves Genius comes with a high-speed-data-transmitting smart device, which allows for the real-time tracking of the operations on mobile phones. The advanced analytics technology enables comprehensive health monitoring of the gensets, and it can also perform in-depth identification of the problems.
Some of the major players in the Indian diesel genset industry are Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited, Ashok Leyland Limited, Greaves Cotton Limited, VE Commercial Vehicles Limited, Mahindra Powerol Ltd., Cummins India Ltd., Caterpillar Inc., Cooper Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Kohler Power India Ltd., Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, and Escorts Limited.