“Government of India’s ambitious ₹111 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), which has already been announced and actioned upon, augurs very well for enabling sectors such as the Indian Construction Equipment (CE) industry,” stated Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways and MSME, while unveiling the Indian Construction Equipment Industry Vision Plan 2030 “Building the Nation” through an online platform. He urged Cooperation, Coordination and Communication with all stakeholders to improve product quality, drive innovation, and make the CE industry globally competitive.
The Minister pledged his commitment to support the interests of the Indian Construction Equipment industry and commended iCEMA and its members for their efforts in creating an action-oriented plan for growing the CE industry by three times the current size in the next 10 years. He informed that the Government is continuously working towards providing world-class infrastructure across the country and urged the CE industry to capture this opportunity. He also stressed on the need for more productivity and cost efficiency to serve the needs of the growing Infrastructure sector.
Gadkari emphasized that product quality along with cost competitiveness will enable the Indian CE industry to successfully participate in global export markets for construction equipment. He urged the industry to consider partnerships with leading academic and technical institutions such as the IITs and set up research centers to learn from and accelerate adoption of international best practices and technology. In his view, the industry needs to undertake R&D and drive innovations continuously to be at par with technologically advanced international brands. He gave instances of evaluating alternate fuels and how the Ministry along with NHAI has driven several innovations in the construction of roads and highways.
According to him, CE companies need to carefully evaluate localization opportunities for both imported equipment as well as components to drive the Government’s Atmanirbhar agenda; and the need to be innovative on all dimensions of business, especially new business models and lucrative financing structures, which will lower the industry’s cost of investments.
Sandeep Singh, President, iCEMA & Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Equipment Machinery India, outlined the Vision Plan that includes sustained demand, creation of a stable operating ecosystem; and building a strong foundation for technology and skilling as the three pillars for the growth and development of the CE industry. “With the right kind of Industry and Government partnership we can become the fastest growing and second largest CE Industry in the world,” he stated.
iCEMA members also took up the issue of the sharp increase in steel prices, which has adversely impacted the cost competitiveness of OEMs as well as the vendors that are largely MSMEs. This increase in raw material costs is leading to escalation of project costs, therefore there is an urgent need to address this issue. The Hon’ble Minister said that he was fully aware of this and has brought it to the attention of the Hon’ble Prime Minister.
iCEMA also requested for inclusion of the CE Industry in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which will give a big boost to the Industry and its stakeholders. iCEMA members opined that this, together with many other recommendations in the Vision Plan, will propel India to becoming the 2nd largest CE market in the world and also the fastest growing in the next ten years.
Arvind K Garg, Immediate Past President, iCEMA & Executive Vice President & Head Construction & Mining Machinery, Larsen and Toubro, presented key highlights of the report. Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President, iCEMA & Managing Director, Volvo Construction Equipment, thanked all the members for their inputs and collaboration for putting together this important document for the CE Industry.
iCEMA envisages the Indian Construction Equipment industry to achieve this vision through an action-oriented 8-point agenda that has been drawn up in consultation with BCG. It will work towards implementing the agenda with the participation of key stakeholders, including the Government of India.
