GMK6300L purchase by Modern Cranes signals progressive industry shifts in India

Modern Cranes, a crane rental company based in Hyderabad, India, has expanded its crane fleet with its biggest acquisition yet - a Grove GMK6300L. The 300 t capacity, six-axle mobile crane is one of the world's best-selling six-axle mobile cranes and is manufactured at Manitowoc's Wilhelmshaven, Germany facility.

With infrastructure development in India showing a demand spike in recent years, the Grove GMK6300L has been earmarked by Modern Cranes to support large projects such as bridge building, girder placement, railway works, chiller erections in HVAC projects; as well as applications in the cement and power industries.


"Modern Cranes has a solid history of using Grove cranes and we continue to use them today because of their strong functionality, reliability and safety features. The purchase of the Grove GMK6300L is reflective of the optimistic mood in India's construction market," said Amin Ladha, partner at Modern Cranes. "Mindsets have matured following new government regulations in 2005, which require the use of safer and more reliable cranes in large-scale public and private projects. As safety norms in India evolve, we need to keep up with these changes."

Besides its 300 t capacity, the GMK6300L features a 15.6 m - 80 m seven-section full power boom with Grove's unique Megaform shaping and Twin-Lock pinning. Its Megatrak independent hydro-pneumatic suspension system is the best off-road driveline on the market today, and enables the GMK6300L to operate as a true all-terrain crane. Other features include a 12 m - 21 m hydraulic offset bi-fold swingaway jib, which has 2 x 8 m intermediate lattice inserts to boost reach, with an overall maximum tip height of 120 m achievable.

The Grove GMK6300L belonging to Modern Cranes was one of the largest machines on display at Excon 2015, the biggest construction equipment show in South East Asia, which took place in Bengaluru last November. The crane attracted strong attention from both existing and potential Manitowoc customers, and the presence of Modern Cranes at the exhibition helped to underline the company's forward-looking philosophy as an industry leader.

Prem Naithani, sales director for India and the Subcontinent for Grove mobile cranes and Manitowoc crawler cranes, said that size, productivity and return on investment are the three most attractive attributes for customers when considering the GMK6300L.

"The development of Modern Cranes' business highlights the upwards trajectory of India's construction industry," he said. "There are demands not only for more construction work, but for bigger projects and higher levels of productivity. To achieve this, customers are looking not only for larger and more productive machines, but also ones that deliver a better return on investment for them. This is what the GMK6300L offers and what's created its success, both in India and worldwide."

Having started out with just a solitary 5 t capacity crane in its early years as a steel business, Modern Cranes was transformed into a fully-fledged crane rental company in 1989 after building up a fleet of Coles cranes (a brand acquired by Manitowoc) from its headquarters in Mumbai. Today its fleet has expanded to include over 50 cranes, and other Grove cranes it has run include the GMK5100, GMK5220 and GMK4070 from the all-terrain crane range and the TM1500, TMS275 and TM250 from the truck crane range. The company has a strong working relationship with TIL India, the long-standing Grove dealer for India, and one of the leading equipment suppliers to the Indian market.

The Grove GMK5220 joined the company's fleet in 2014, and has proven a reliable performer for the company. It was chosen for its faster speeds compared with other cranes, especially when working on uneven job sites. The 220 t capacity GMK5220 has a 68 m main boom which can be further extended to 108 m with the use of jib attachments. Optimal performance, both on- and off-road, is delivered through the inclusion of Grove's unique Megatrak suspension system and a powerful Allison transmission in the five-axle carrier.

"At Modern Cranes, we are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways to solve existing problems for our clients. In 1996, when India's construction industry was relatively conservative, we pioneered the use of telescopic cranes in Hyderabad, introducing the first one to the region in the form of a Coles 18/22 crane from Germany," said Amin Ladha, "Today, 20 years later, we are again leading the industry by giving our customers the very latest technology the mobile crane industry has to offer."