Excon Post Show Report

With over 30,000 visitors and 435 exhibitors spread over an area of 160,000 sqm at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Excon has emerged as one of the world’s largest shows in construction equipment and machinery sector. The 5th Edition of Excon 2009 concluded successfully with preponderance of over 135 international exhibitors. Excon 2009 had exclusive international pavilions from China, Germany, Italy, and the UK, besides stand-alone stalls by manufacturers from Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, among others. Indian construction equipment companies represented a wide gamut of construction equipment and technology spectrum turned this mega event a truly international construction equipment trade fair in this part of the world. All the exhibitors, particularly from the overseas gained a first hand knowledge about India, the most promising global CE market with an estimated 5% share. The overseas companies identified partners for inward investment in India to set up their manufacturing and trading facilities. Such an overwhelming participation from major national andinternational companies that Excon witnessed is enough indication that this exhibition has emerged as an excellent platform for global players in construction equipment industry to tap the huge business opportunity in India’s infrastructure sector.

The five-day international exhibition covered a display area of 1,60,000 square meters at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, which housed indoor halls covering 40,000 square mts area. The exhibition attracted over 30,000 visitors who witnessed latest advancements in equipment for earthmoving and construction, lifting, material handling, concrete mixers, crushers and screens, road construction and foundation piling rigs, asphalt, compactors, compressors and generators, components, accessories and consumables besides service facilities like leasing, financing, and equipment rentals. The specific focus of the exhibition was on efficiency, productivity, environment, and safety. The event provided a real on-ground experience to the visitors, business delegates to network and create B2B linkages and forge business and trade linkages, nationally and internationally. The visitors were able to benchmark product features of different products exhibited, interacted about their requirements with technical heads and negotiate deals with the chief executives present at the spot.

Inauguration

Mr Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport and Highways inaugurated Excon 2009. In his inaugural address, he said that there was a need for huge capacity building across the entire spectrum of infrastructure industry to enable the Government to achieve the target of constructing 7000 kms of roads per year. Focus on India-specific products, India-specific R&D and skill development will drive the growth for the country’s earthmoving and construction equipment industry, he added. Underlining country’s larger reservoir of human talent, he stressed the need for imparting them on a regular basis right skills, knowledge and training. The country needed not only the bridging of infrastructure deficit but also creating more infrastructure, as the growth would continue to demand. Focusing on the need for extensiveinfrastructure development, he said it is not just about creating more roadsbut alsoabout managing roads, which are difficult to achieve, considering the complexities involved in running a federal state of democracy. The development should also be more equitableand inclusive in such a way that it creates positive impact in all the regions and cross section of people. Certain aberrations needto be corrected through effective infrastructure development, he underlined.

Earlier, Mr Vipin Sondhi, Chairman Excon in his theme address said that domestic construction equipment industry is playing a catalytic role towards building India’s infrastructure capabilities. The 5th edition of Excon, he saiddemonstrated the India Opportunity in the construction sector for equipment players. Mr Ranaveer Sinha, Chairman, IECIAL, in his address complimented the Government for giving a great impetus to infrastructure development, which in turn, he said would help CE industry growing rapidly. The industry, he said is expected to grow appreciably in the next 2-3 years and informed that the size of global construction equipment was $100 billion and the size of India’s equipment industry is $3-3.5 billion and its sizewill double in 4-5 years. In his welcome address, Mr. C.R Swaminathan, Chairman, CII, Southern Region said that the Indian construction industry is estimated to have a turn over of $60 billion in the current year. Since, the infrastructure inadequacies pose major constraints to quantum economic growth; there should be concerted efforts to focus on infrastructure development.

After the inauguration, the Minister visited the exhibition and witnessed the demonstration by exhibitors of the latest advancements in construction engineering products, equipment and technology with specific emphasis on efficiency, productivity, safety, environment and construction quality, which was the focused theme of Excon 2009.

Conference on Construction Equipment Industry

Coinciding with Excon 2009, there was a one-day Conference on Construction Equipment Industry, focusing on the global construction equipment trends, challenges in implementation of larger infrastructure projects and issues of financing of construction equipment. The Conference highlighted the immense potential of the industry in stimulating growth in the economy and its multiplier effects, besides providing an appropriate platform for the construction equipment companies, equipment manufacturers, policy makers, consultants, financial institutions to interact and present their viewpoint on the issues of concern and making the industry more growth oriented.

The topics covered in the conference included construction industry and users perspective, large infrastructure projects, implementation of mega projects, case studies, financing, and human resource development. Distinguished speakers from the companies, organizationsmade their presentations on the various projects in India and project's requirement of equipment in the next 3-4 years. The conference emphasized the need for easing of norms for land acquisition, speeding up of infrastructure projects of national importance, induction of certified courses for operators, increasing safety standards and taking measures to prevent imports of used equipment without age limit, among others.

New Product Launches

Over 400 new products were launched at the five–day exhibition from small equipment, componentsto heavy machineries and most for the first time in India. Some of the new products unveiled are covered in this issue.

Business Generated

As per the Business and Industrial Research Division (BIRD) of IMRB International data generatedduring an on-the spot survey among the exhibitors and visitors, Excon 2009 has generated business enquiries worth Rs 10,000 crore. The value of business deals stuck during the 5 days exhibition could be about Rs 2000 crore, it reports.

With the 5th edition of Excon 2009 culminating successfully on an international platform, all eyes are now set on the next edition of Excon in the next two years. All the earlier Excon shows held in 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2007, had attracted increased participation from the national as well as international participants. Any one who has followed these developmentsand participated in these shows, will savor the sweat taste of response these events have generated. This show has been experiencing phenomenal rise since their inception in 2000 and breaking all popularity charts. Today, no doubt, it is being rated as one among the world’s top few exhibitions and trade shows in the construction equipment domain.