Larsen & Toubro - Arvind K. Garg, Executive Vice President & Head

Arvind K. Garg, Executive Vice President & Head, Construction & Mining Machinery Business

“L&T will be participating with an outdoor pavilion and showcasing products from Komatsu and L&T Construction Equipment, ranging from excavators, graders, dozers, compactors, pavers, wheel loaders and skid steer loaders along with a variety of attachments. There will also be a display of Rammer products, which we distribute in India. The major highlight will be the launch of Komatsu PC300-8 M0 and PC350-8 M0 machines, along with our new L&T products- Skid Steer Loader and Hydraulic Paver. We will also showcase our capabilities in digitalizing our products with the latest Information Communication Tools, besides genuine parts, recon capabilities and service support.”

The budgetary allocation for infra development has given the much-needed boost to the CE segment.

The government focus on infrastructure development has led to substantial growth in the CE business. The budgetary allocation has been higher than the previous year by 21% at $92 billion. This spending will be close to 10% of GDP and has given the much-needed boost to the CE segment. Hydraulics Excavator sales is likely to exceed about 23,000 units this year, registering a healthy CAGR @ over 25% over the last 3 years. Similarly, the Compactor market is expected to be close to 5,500 units with a CAGR of 30% over the last 3 years.

Backhoe Loader continues to be the largest selling equipment with an annual demand for about 42,000 units. The Wheel Loader industry is expected to cross 4,000 units with aggregate and quarrying driving the demand. The overall growth of these equipment is likely to be sustained and we expect a CAGR of 12-16% over the next three years.

Our products related to the Road Machinery sector and Granite/Marble quarries saw the highest growth rate in 2018.

We, at L&T, registered a healthy growth across all product categories ranging from 22-55%, with products related to Road Machinery and Granite/Marble quarries seeing the highest growth. In addition, the new products we launched have been well accepted by customers. This is helping us to consolidate the manufacturing volumes in both Komatsu and L&T plants. Meeting anticipated demand in the next few years and gearing up for the future will be part of our agenda.

We are adding new outlets for sales of parts at multiple locations.

On the parts support infrastructure, we recently moved to a new larger, state-of-the-art warehouse facility in Nagpur, which will cater to our needs for the next 7-8 years. We are consistently adding outlets for parts sales at multiple locations from the existing level of 150+ units. Our Parts-on-Wheels program has found excellent acceptance from customers and we are working towards strengthening it. We have since added a new sophisticated Service Centre in Singrauli for repair of our machines and components, and it has given a big fillip to the coal belt areas. Initiatives on digitalizing product support is being undertaken to meet future requirements of our customers.

Training infrastructure is a focus area and one of L&T’s key strengths. We are regularly increasing our training programs in multiple locations and covering a wider gamut of customers and their staff in operation and maintenance of equipment.

L&T’s focus is on delivering the best technologies with the highest lifecycle value.

We are focused on delivering the best technologies with the highest lifecycle value, which have been accepted well by captive users and customers with a longer ownership horizon. L&T operates in the premium segment and gives the best value for money in terms of productivity, operating cost, reliability and longevity. Be it the Komatsu range of Excavators, Motor Graders, Dozers, the Scania range of Tipper trucks, the Sandvik and L&T attachments or our own range of L&T Compactors and Wheel loaders, we are a class apart in offering the best technology and support to customers along with value-add packages which enhance the utilization and productivity of our machines.

Our highly popular machine care program ‘Suraksha 9000’ is the first such initiative in the Indian CE industry.

Superior asset utilization has become the key for a developer to complete his project as per plan. Proper and on-time maintenance is crucial to enhance availability, reliability and durability of machines. We demonstrate this through Product Support packages like Annual Maintenance Contracts, Full Maintenance Contracts, Site Support Arrangements and Availability guarantees.

Our machine care program Suraksha 9000 plays an important role in this direction. When a customer enters this scheme, he agrees to use Komatsu genuine oil and filters. In return the power train warranty is extended up to 9000 hours or 3 years. All mandatory services are carried out under the supervision of trained service engineers. This adds tremendous value to the customer to improve the lifecycle cost of his asset and to the reliability and efficiency of the machine. For the retail segment and hirers who have a shorter machine ownership plan, or customers who have Capex constraints, we are offering innovative financing options.

Energy saving training and tips are provided to operator and maintenance team. Preventive maintenance checks like Komatsu undercarriage inspection is carried out and shared with the customer along with the PM report. This scheme insulates the owner from the impact of unexpected major component failure and protects him from unexpected cash outflow for equipment maintenance.

Forex currency fluctuation appears to be a temporary phase.

The Indian economy has been strong and getting better by the day and can definitely absorb certain fluctuations and challenges. We have a very responsive government at the Centre, which has always responded quickly and positively to such challenges. We have also taken several steps within the organization to minimize the impact of such fluctuations.