The opportunity comes as companies shift from reactive, run-to-fail maintenance towards predictive, data-driven and reliability-centred systems, which can improve industrial output, extend asset life and reduce operating costs, industry leaders said.
An ABB global survey found that 88 per cent of Indian industrial businesses experienced an unplanned outage at least once a month, compared with 69 per cent globally. The survey estimated the cost to a typical Indian business at nearly Rs 70 lakh per hour, while 19 per cent of Indian respondents still relied on run-to-fail maintenance.
A statement by MRAM Expo 2026 said the findings point to a significant productivity opportunity for India’s industrial sector.
Breakdowns carry a steep economic cost
Amit Gupta, Division President, Motion Services, ABB India, said, “The study’s findings make it abundantly clear that our industry frequently underestimates the genuine consequences of unplanned downtime, and the survey strongly corroborates this reality.”
Martin Robinson, Founder & CEO, IRISS Group, USA, said, “Better maintenance is a direct driver of productivity and economic growth. It delivers higher uptime, fewer breakdowns, longer asset life, lower operating costs and less waste.”
The scale of the potential losses extends beyond individual factories. Siemens research estimates that unplanned downtime across the Fortune Global 500 costs companies about USD 1.5 trillion annually, equivalent to around 11 per cent of revenues.Anitha Raghunath, Convenor, MRAM 2026, and Founder & Managing Director of Virgo Communications, said India is emerging as a rapidly maturing market for maintenance, reliability and asset management.
The Indian Asset Performance Management (APM) market was estimated at USD 810.6 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2.25 billion by 2033, representing a compound annual growth rate of around 12 per cent.
AI, predictive maintenance gain policy push
The shift towards smarter asset management is also gaining policy support. The NITI Aayog report on AI for Viksit Bharat recommends AI-based predictive maintenance, digital twins, automated substation operations and remote monitoring to build more reliable and resilient infrastructure.
Industry leaders at the expo said these technologies can help India move away from reactive maintenance and reduce avoidable productivity losses.
The economic implications extend across roads, bridges, railways, airports, ports, power plants, water systems, factories and urban infrastructure. These assets represent large capital investments, and premature deterioration or avoidable downtime can result in repeated capital expenditure as well as productivity losses.
The growing focus on maintenance therefore comes not only from the need to keep assets operational but also from the potential to extract more economic value from infrastructure and equipment already deployed across the country.
(With inputs from PTI)