Subhash Sethi, Chairman, SPML Infra

The stimulus package of Rs. 20 lakh crore will help the economy towards the recovery path and the infrastructure industry will also rebound.
The spread and severity of coronavirus is a matter of great concern. The Infrastructure sector is already feeling the effects in terms of liquidity constraints, supply chains disruptions, shortage of labour, cost overruns and many other issues that will affect project execution and timelines.
During these testing times, the government has taken a number of initiatives towards continuance of infrastructure development in order to maintain the momentum of the economy. It announced a Rs. 1.7 lakh crore relief package in March, followed by RBI’s facilitating increased lending by the financial institutions. The stimulus package of Rs. 20 lakh crore will help the economy towards the recovery path and the infrastructure industry to rebound.
Other initiatives by the government like extension of toll collection period in contracts to compensate the operators, moratorium for loan payments, reducing late payment surcharge for discoms, Rs. 150 billion package to enhance the healthcare infrastructure, extension of the existing foreign trade policy (2015-20) till March 31, 2021, and extending the timeline for compliance to companies will help in easing the situation.
Digital transformation in infrastructure sector is overdue and will now be expedited.
The digital transformation in infrastructure sector is overdue which is aggravated by the pandemic disruptions. The adoption of new technology will be expedited, and we expect good integration of digital technologies including Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, BIM, Machine Learning, 3D Printing and Robotics in infrastructure development projects.
SPML Infra is executing a number of infrastructure development projects in water, wastewater and power transmission & distribution segments, and we started technology integration in our projects much earlier, which has helped us in seamless project execution with ease of operations and maintenance during the current tough situation.
Technology companies at bauma CONEXPO INDIA in Feb ‘21 will be the most sought after for their solutions for the CE industry.
bauma CONEXPO INDIA is certainly a big platform for the construction industry and since the pandemic situation is still quite grim across the country, it was a wise decision to reschedule it to the next year. We hope that India and the world will be able to find a permanent solution for this deadly virus. I would suggest getting a wide participation of technology companies who are providing solutions for the construction industry.