Industry predicts six-fold growth for construction equipment market

"The Indian earthmoving and construction equipment (ECE) market has the potential to grow six times -- from total revenues of USD 3.3 billion in 2010 to USD 22.7 billion in 2020. But to realise the potential, the government would have to create an enabling environment. The Indian ECE industry wants the government to clear important national infrastructure projects without delay by addressing issues of land acquisition, dispute resolution and awarding contracts under clear PPP framework,” said Jasmeet Singh, Head - Customer Experience Programs & Defence Sales, JCB India Ltd. 

He was addressing a road show on Asia's third largest trade fair for equipment industry-Excon 2013, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in Chandigarh at its Northern Headquarters, Sector 31 A, recently.

“In addition, it has to be ensured that liquidity is available, while taxes need to be simplified with uniformity across states,” he emphasized. Excon 2013 is scheduled to be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), from November 20-24, 2013. Spread over 2, 20,000 square metres of display area and with a participation of 800 exhibitors, Excon would witness over 100+ new product launches by participating companies. There will be country pavilions, including leading economies like China, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey. The event would also have a large presence of SMEs in the component and aggregate manufacturing, showcasing India's potential as a preferred outsourcing destination for construction equipment manufacturing.

“For a country focused on development, it is imperative to mechanise its infrastructure creation. Besides this, collaboration with suppliers, competitive enhancement and skilled manpower are also crucial to boost the Indian Construction equipment sector, said Mr Narendera Arora, Vice President, GBP Group.

Calling skilled man power, a major challenge for construction equipment industry, “Ms Ritu Singhal, Director, Raglan Constructions said, “By 2020, the construction equipment industry will need an estimated one lakh trained operators and three lakh trained mechanics especially in areas of operations and maintenance. Skilled manpower remains a key challenge in this segment which calls for a skill development council.”

“Fast urbanization and industrialization has paved the way for multi-billion dollars infrastructure construction projects which propelled demand for construction equipments in the country. However, the industry recorded slight slowdown in FY 2012-13 amidst economic downturn, but the industry will sustain its positive growth momentum in coming years at a CAGR of 17.6%. Given these facts, it is absolutely essential for the construction equipment industry to work closely with all stakeholders including government agencies, and events like Excon can go a long way in facilitating that,” Mr Vinayak Sanger, Zonal Head, Schwing Stetter.

“The construction industry is a major contributor to the country's GDP (8% in FY12) and one of the largest employment generators, currently employing around 33 million people but the construction equipment market is still untapped. In such scenario, event like Excon will be a great platform for national as well as local players to share global best-practices and would aim at facilitating faster and sustainable development of infrastructure and related sectors in India,” said Mr Manmohan Singh, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council. 

“From live demonstrations of equipment to a display of power tools, Excon promises to give close to 35,000 visitors from different parts of India, a great business opportunity. Apart from the participation of major equipment renting companies, and leasing and finance companies that offer on the spot loans, visitors can benefit by benchmarking product features of different makes, interacting about their requirements with technical heads, and negotiating deals with chief executives. The event also acts as a forum to position India as an outsourcing destination for components, aggregates and equipment,” said Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII NR region.