The FY23 growth was driven by all four sub-segments of the CE industry, except Road Construction Equipment, which recorded a slight de-growth of 3%. A total of 77,164 units of Earthmoving equipment were sold in FY23 – a 23% jump in sales as compared to 62,629 units sold in FY22. The sales of Backhoe Loaders and Crawler Excavators, accounting for over 90% of total sales of earthmoving equipment, increased by 28% and 17% respectively during the year. Similarly, concrete equipment sales went up by 26% to 11,787 units in FY23 on the back of an equivalent increase in sales of concrete mixers which contributed around 60% of sales in this segment. Material Handling Equipment segment recorded an impressive 47% growth, driven by a 25% surge in sales volume of pick and carry cranes, accounting for more than 80% of the total sales in this category. A significant increase in tele-handler sales was also seen with 713 units sold in FY23, compared to 342 units in FY22. The Material Processing Equipment segment too consolidated its contribution to total sales with manifold growth in screeners, jaw crushers, impact crushers and cone crushers.
Dimitrov Krishnan, President of ICEMA and Managing Director of Volvo CE India Pvt Ltd, credited the Ministry of Road Construction & Highways for the demand for construction equipment and urged the government to maintain a steady and high pace of highway construction to create a sustained demand for construction equipment. He said, “We are grateful to Hon’ble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari Ji for his visionary outlook for the road sector of India and we hope that this sector will continue to be a strong demand driver for the CE industry in future as well. He also added that a focus on debottlenecking the issues to accelerate the pace of execution of the existing infrastructure projects would enable the industry plan better to cater to the emerging demand for the equipment.
Besides road and highway sector, a steep increase in railway construction in FY23 clocking 14km/day of track laying owing to commissioning of new lines, doubling and gauge conversion, etc, enhanced focus of the state governments towards traditional infrastructure development – roads, irrigation as well as rural / urban development and the steady revival of the real estate industry were the other factors that contributed toward the growth of the industry and resulted in higher demand for construction equipment during the year. Additionally, a 15% increase in coal production in FY23 led to higher sales of mining equipment like high-capacity excavators, motor graders and dozers.
“FY2022-23 was a year that saw volumes peak to the best-ever performance, with the industry sales volume exceeding the pre-pandemic level by 10%.” said V. G. Sakthikumar, Convener, ICEMA Industry Analysis and Insights Panel and Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India Pvt. Ltd. “Infrastructure projects including high-speed trains, metro-rail and national highway construction contributed to the growth of CE industry in Q1 and Q2 and the growth in subsequent quarters was backed on petrol and refinery, steel plant and port development projects.” added Sakthikumar.
Sakthikumar mentioned that, with the Government’s continued focus on infrastructure development and a significant increase in the capital expenditure outlay announced in the Union Budget 2023-24, demand for construction equipment is expected to remain robust in the near term with growth expected to be around 15-20% in FY24.
