As India accelerates toward becoming a global manufacturing hub, technology leaders that combine innovation, scale, and sustainability are shaping this transformation. Kennametal India stands at the forefront of this shift, evolving from a tooling supplier into a strategic productivity partner for advanced manufacturing. With world-class local manufacturing, a global R&D centre, and expanding capacity, the company plays a pivotal role in Kennametal’s global growth strategy. Its expertise in material science, advanced coatings, and engineered tooling is enabling Indian manufacturers to machine everything from lightweight aluminium to titanium and nickel-based superalloys with precision and reliability. Digital technologies such as virtual machining, connected systems, and AI-driven insights are further enhancing shopfloor performance and decision-making. Backed by strong application engineering, Kennametal delivers measurable productivity, not just products. Sustainability, through renewable energy and carbide recycling, is embedded in its operations. Together, these pillars position Kennametal India as a key force driving the future of high-performance manufacturing in the country. In this exclusive conversation with Machine Tools World, Vijaykrishnan Venkatesan, Managing Director, Kennametal India Limited, shares how the company is shaping its journey—one tool, one process, and one innovation at a time. Excerpts:
Q. How does the India business fit into Kennametal’s global strategy?
India is a strategic cornerstone of Kennametal’s global growth ambitions, strengthened further by the country’s rise as the world’s fourth‑largest economy and its continued momentum in manufacturing‑led expansion. Our business is scaling in step with this national trajectory, supported by a robust local manufacturing footprint. Key investments—such as the state of the art Metal Cutting Inserts facility established a few years ago and the recently announced greenfield expansion for our Machining Solutions Group (MSG)—further reinforce our confidence in the Indian market and our long term commitment to serving it.
India is also a critical capability and innovation hub for the company. We host one of Kennametal’s three global R&D centers along with multiple engineering teams that drive new product development, enrich our patent portfolio, and strengthen our end to end solutions strategy worldwide. Complementing this is our Shared Services organization, which supports global IT and HR and enhances enterprise wide operational excellence.
Together, these elements make India a uniquely strategic contributor—combining market momentum, innovation depth, and global capabilities that are essential to Kennametal’s long term competitiveness and growth.
Q. What is Kennametal India’s digital and innovation roadmap?
Digital is central to Kennametal India’s innovation agenda as we align with the country’s rapid move toward Industry 4.0. We are scaling the use of digital twins and virtual machining simulations to optimize processes upfront and help customers achieve first time right outcomes with greater speed and precision. On the shop floor, WIDMA’s Industry 4.0 ready machines integrate with customer systems to enable predictive insights, real time performance monitoring, and remote service support.
On the customer engagement front, we are strengthening our presence through digitally led marketing initiatives that connect with users across platforms, share application expertise more effectively, and support faster, insight driven decision making.
Looking ahead, we are advancing AI enabled machining recommendations and expanding AI applications that strengthen our ESG priorities, particularly in energy and resource optimization. By using real time data to drive insights on water and energy use, and to support employee training and upskilling, we enhance performance accuracy while reducing manual intervention. This has helped us reach industry leading standards in data governance and redirect valuable time toward high impact ESG initiatives. Together, these advancements position Kennametal India at the forefront of technology led manufacturing transformation.
Q. What tooling innovations are you seeing for new materials and applications?
Indian manufacturing is rapidly shifting toward lighter substrates, tougher alloys, and high performance materials, driven by growth in e mobility, aerospace and defense, and advanced engineering sectors. Our innovation roadmap reflects this shift, with ongoing advancements in carbide grades, PVD/CVD coating technologies, and engineered geometries tailored for EV battery housings, motor components, aluminum lightweight structures, titanium, and nickel based superalloys.
Leveraging Kennametal’s global strengths in materials science and product engineering, we continue to develop next generation carbide substrates, multi layer coating systems, and high performance cutting tools engineered to tackle challenges such as work hardening, low thermal conductivity, and chemical reactivity—particularly in titanium and nickel alloys. These developments reflect the broader innovation trajectory highlighted by Kennametal India leadership, emphasizing differentiated performance and advanced tooling architectures.
For heavy engineering and energy applications, our focus remains on delivering predictable, repeatable performance in hardened steels, where consistent tool life and machining stability are essential. All solutions undergo rigorous validation under Indian production conditions to ensure higher material removal rates, consistent quality, and reliable tool life across shifts and lots, reinforcing our commitment to shop floor proven productivity.
Q. How does application engineering differentiate Kennametal in the Indian market?
Our differentiation lies in delivering productivity outcomes, not just tools. Our application engineers work directly on the shop floor with customers to diagnose constraints, simulate machining strategies, and implement standard or customized tooling solutions that unlock measurable performance gains.
We follow a structured approach to standardizing new components, enabling customers to arrive at the most cost effective machining process, reduce cost per component, and achieve stable, predictable production.
Our teams ensure customers get the maximum value from their tools, driving efficiency through process optimization, parameter refinement, and rapid problem solving. This is strengthened by extensive technical training, ensuring capability building and smooth adoption of advanced machining practices.
Q. How is sustainability shaping Kennametal’s operations and customer value proposition?
Kennametal India Limited, being a publicly listed company, embeds sustainability at the core of its operations and fully adheres to all Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) directives. ESG principles are not treated as standalone initiatives—they are fundamental to how we operate and how we create long term value for customers, shareholders, and society.
At our Bangalore facility, 91% of total energy consumption comes from renewable sources, significantly reducing our carbon footprint. In alignment with our ESG commitments, we focus on responsible waste management by reducing waste generation and increasing waste recycling across our operations. Water stewardship is equally important: we treat and recycle water within our operations to improve resource efficiency and circular utilization.
Circularity is a key pillar of our sustainability strategy. Tungsten carbide, the core material in our cutting tools, is highly recyclable. We operate a closed loop program supported by a robust reverse logistics system, enabling the collection of used tools and process waste for reclamation. Every kilogram of carbide we reclaim avoids the need to mine the same amount of new material, strengthening environmental conservation while enhancing supply chain resilience.
Q. What are Kennametal India’s competitive priorities and vision for the future?
Our priorities center on technology leadership, application engineering depth, and strengthening our India manufacturing and supply chain footprint. We will continue investing in material science, coatings, machining innovation, and customer focused application engineering to deliver differentiated productivity outcomes. We are expanding capacity to support high growth industries across the aerospace, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation segments.
Digital capabilities—analytics, connected systems, and AI/ML driven insights—will increasingly shape how we partner with customers. Sustainability remains a strategic imperative. We continue to advance renewable energy adoption and carbide recycling programs, with clear targets and accountability built into our operations
Finally, we are investing in talent and in partnerships across machine tool buildersand industry bodies to build a stronger manufacturing ecosystem. The goal is consistent: be the most valued partner for customers seeking technology leadership, reliability, and measurable outcomes, while contributing meaningfully to India’s manufacturing growth.
