Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the government auctioned 41 coal blocks with liberal terms and conditions for commercial mining to ensure competition, transparency, the participation of the private sector and ease of doing business says Sandeep Mathur, India CE – Brand Leader, Case India.

What is your outlook for the mining equipment industry post-2020?
The pandemic and lockdown affected the coal and mining sector immensely. According to the Indian Infrastructure Mining report, in the short-term, the segment may face capex crunch, supply chain issues, manufacturing and import challenges, however, its effect will be subdued in the long term. The market size of the mining equipment industry is expected to be around Rs 219 billion for the year 2024-25 with the highest investment likely in dumpers, followed by crushing, pulverizing and sizing equipment. The demand and market size projections for the mining equipment industry is based on the bottom-up approach for the period 2020-25. The government post-lockdown has announced more auctioning of the coal blocks with liberal terms and conditions. All these factors will contribute to the growth of the mining industry soon.

The growth of the mining sector is crucial for the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, what role will the mining equipment players play in this program?
The coal mining sector is going through a major reform currently. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the government auctioned 41 coal blocks with liberal terms and conditions for commercial mining to ensure competition, transparency, the participation of the private sector and ease of doing business. The mining sector and subsequently the government will see more revenue and free trade which will scale up the industry. Some reports cite that the private sector involvement will bring in Rs 33,000 crore of capital investment in the next five years. This amount of investment is sure to boost the sector and the economy to great heights and with our range of products; we’re ready to make the most of this opportunity.

At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that Indian mining operations match up to global standards, what kind of equipment will be necessary to achieve this?
Mining and tunneling activities require the use of a robust machine which ensures onsite safety and productivity. Case India’s range of earthmoving equipment meets these aspects and more with its strong designs and advanced features. Our CHEX Excavator comes with a boom and arm plate with 30 per cent increased thickness and a superstructure which strengthens the stressed areas to increase the overall durability with a strong undercarriage system. Fuel efficiency is another factor which makes the machine stay on site for long hours, a specific requirement considering the location of mining sites.

Case India’s Excavators, Dozers and graders come with a fuel-efficient FPT engine which provides outstanding performance, fast response times and best-in-class fuel economy. To handle the shock caused by the uneven surface of the mining and tunnelling sites, Case India’s grader range comes with added accumulators which act as a shock absorber so that the shock doesn’t get transmitted to the structure or operator thereby increasing the operator safety.

Our equipment range is also equipped with the ROPs and FOPs which ensures the safety of the machine as well as the operator. To handle the tough terrain conditions, Case India’s motor Grader are equipped with hydraulic pitch control feature which helps operator to control moldboard pitch adjustment from the cabin itself while the 2050 M Dozer is equipped with hydrostatic transmission to provide best in class drawbar pull capacity and lower maintenance and operating cost best suited for these conditions.

What are some of the products you are banking on in the current scenario?
To ensure sustainable growth in mining operations, Case India has a strong portfolio consisting of Motor grader- CASE 865B, Crawler dozer 2050M and CX220C Excavator designed for tough mining conditions.

Case India’s 865B Motor Grader, fitted with an electronic FPT engine is ideal for mining applications. It comes with a unique ‘Multi radius mold board design’ that provides a mixing effect which does not only push the material on the ground but also rolls it. Case 865B Grader is also equipped with a hydraulic pitch control feature which helps the operator to control moldboard pitch adjustment from the cabin itself which results in high productivity. It also has closed HVAC (Air conditioning and heating) with ROPS/FOPS features to ensure operator safety which is essential in tough applications like mining.

Whereas, Case India’s crawler dozers are powered with FPT Industrial 6.7 litre 6 cylinder engine and are equipped with hydrostatic transmission to provide best in class drawbar pull capacity. The 2050M dozer also features an automatic blade function which further increases the operator’s efficiency. The cab can be tilted to provide full access to all main power train components. The operator can customize all the working parameters of the machine to achieve excellent controllability and faster cycle times.

Also, we have recently launched our first ever excavator CX 220 C at the biggest construction equipment event Excon in December 2019. The CASE CX 220 C is a 22-ton excavator that is specially designed for the Indian terrain and delivers faster cycle times, higher productivity and fuel savings. Our excavator comes with a boom and arm plate with 30 per cent increased thickness and a superstructure which strengthens the stressed areas to increase the overall durability with a strong undercarriage system. Case India excavator are also equipped with a closed HVAC cabin with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and falling object protection system (FOPS). Additionally, our excavators are also equipped with FPT industrial engines which ensure fuel efficiency.