Electrical equipment: Chokepoints and risks

Makers of motors, transformers, switchgear, cables and inverters for power systems

Chokepoints and risks

• Large transformers can take up to four years and HVDC cables over five, after prices rose 75% and nearly 100% since 2019².
• India has one CRGO plant of about 50,000 tonnes a year against electrical steel imports above 771,000 tonnes in 2023⁴.
• India is over 90% import-dependent for power semiconductors and overall import dependence rose to 33% in 2025¹.
• China supplied nearly 30% of the roughly US$ 500 billion of global trade in the main categories in 2024, so trade barriers on either side reshape supply¹.
• Copper, aluminium and rare-earth magnet prices pass directly into cable, motor and transformer costs.