Rajinder Raina, GM – Marketing, Escorts Construction Equipment Ltd

The target is very much achievable over a period of next two years for which all the stakeholders have to work in a seamless manner.

The road awarding pace fell by 20% in the first nine months of FY17. What is your assessment on this?
My take on this would be slightly different. There were two major challenges – debottlenecking the projects that were stuck for a pretty long time and putting a mechanism in place to avoid repeat of the same in future. This has been achieved by taking some major decisions like providing exit clause in the new packages, creating HAM as an option alongside EPC and BOLT/BOT. There is lot of work up for taking including some prestigious and mega projects. PMGSY has a lot to offer as well. Execution has to be ensured, road packages are getting awarded at a decent pace wherein the next 12 months will cover up in case there has been any dip in the past six months.

Of late, Nitin Gadkari has issued an ultimatum to NHAI officials to achieve the target of 40 km of roads a day. What’s your comment in this regard?
Nitin Gadkari is the man who instilled life in road sector after it witnessed a prolonged lull under the previous regime. He is a man with absolute clarity with time bound targets in mind. He is ready to do whatever it takes to achieve the target and it is for NHAI to ask for resources, direct and indirect, but deliver what has been set out and agreed to by them. He monitors progress like a hands-on CEO who is an enabler, who ensured that the first stage and the most difficult stage of 25 kms per day is achieved.

Is ‘40 km of roads a day’ an achievable target?
To achieve the target the will and intent of the government is clear from the budget itself. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Road Minister Gadkari are on a missionary mode. Therefore it is incumbent on the central and state agencies to hasten the pace. Decision making and availability of finance is in place and the road construction equipment manufacturers are geared up for delivering contemporary machinery to match the demand. The EPC contractors and hirers have to keep pace as everybody has been waiting for the turn around. The target is very much achievable over a period of next two years for which all the stakeholders have to work in a seamless manner.

How did your business perform during the past one year?
Last year was one of the best in a long period and Escorts registered more than 40 per cent growth in road compaction equipment.

Where did you see growth coming from?
Major growth came from highways but rural roads did fairly well too. The bias is moving towards hiring sector and that is going to continue.

GST is now a step closer to July deadline. How it will make an impact over CE sector?
There will be initial challenges and resistance, particularly with the retail hirers but given the price of the equipment, there is no option for these hirers but to get on with registration. First two months will see a bit of slow down but that will coincide with monsoons. In the long run, it will help the users to organise their business.

Are you ready for GST implementation?
We at Escorts have been working to put things in place with EY as our knowledge partners and are ready for it. The major task for us is to get our channel partners ready for GST implementation. We are working on it to see that we meet the deadline.

Can we expect any new product from you in the road segment?
As of today, we manufacture the widest range of Vibratory Compactors in India: Soil compactors, Escorts EC 5250, Escorts 2420, Asphalt Escorts HD85, and Mini Tandem Escorts EC 3664. For all the models we have standard and drum drive and in the case of soil compactors, Bolt-On Pad Foot model is available as well. Telematics and compaction measuring devices are optional. Escorts does have technology for higher tonnage compactors but the demand for it is yet to come up.