Much awaited construction and infra equipment expo, CII Excon held in Bangalore in May 2022, announced the arrival of the digital era for the construction industry. Industry stalwarts talks to B2B Purchase about their new launches in smart and connected equipment range, industry encouragement for women participation, and other pathbreaking intelligent moves in the industry.

The 11th edition of CII EXCON, South Asia’s largest construction equipment trade fair organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), concluded on May 21 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore. Commenting on the inauguration, Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, highlighted the construction sector’s contribution to achieving the prime minister’s vision of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. 

The government is embarking on major infrastructure and industrial projects worth 100 lakh crores to achieve this goal. Though our primary focus should be on growing exponentially in the country by advancing our technologies, including people at the bottom of the pyramid is also critical since they are the economy’s movers. We urge the industries to collaborate to enable the CE sector further, “he said. 

Regarding business meetings with industry leaders and customers, Excon has always been a unique experience for us. Except for the climatic disruption that created some discomfort for the visitors, there was a minor drop in the expected footfall during the exhibition’s first two days, but we gained good traction after that.

Speaking at the inauguration, Guest of Honour, General V K Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, said, “India is an emerging hub for construction equipment, component outsourcing base, and design base.” The private players in the construction industry must concentrate on automation, adoption of advanced technologies and global best practices, usage of alternate fuels, and innovations in using waste materials as raw materials for their construction projects to diminish the cost of construction and pollution.

Infrastructure must be sustainable, and the industry should take measures to enhance the quality at an affordable life cycle cost. India is working hard on hydrogen fuel technology and solar energy since we consider it the country’s future. The CE industry must be prepared for the competitive market and focus on Industry 4.0 to revamp itself.

Deepak Shetty, Chairman of CII EXCON, said, “This is the eleventh edition of the EXCON focused on building India for a New World by adding competitiveness, growth, sustainability, and technology.” India must become less dependent on imports to build largescale infrastructure projects, roads, ports, etc. Hence, developing and embracing technologies is crucial to expanding our innovations and becoming an export hub globally. The three key strategies that will help us to fast-track developments are: focusing on new growth drivers, understanding the significance of the rural economy, and curating a roadmap for alternate fuels. 

Participation at Excon 

Let’s look at the industry participants and their views about the 11th edition of Excon that brought humongous business and growth opportunities across the construction, mining, infrastructure, and other allied industries in India and abroad.

The Volvo Traction System in the machine delivers excellent climbing capabilities – essential on steep inclines or slippery surfaces. The Compactor can be quickly and easily converted from a smooth drum to a Padfoot drum by clamping on a Padfoot shell, allowing the machine to work in different applications, explains Dimitrov Krishnan, Managing Director, Volvo CE India.

PV Ramdev, MD, Everest Engineering Equipment Pvt. Ltd., spoke about their successful product launches at the Excon exhibition and ambitious plans to expand their business into manufacturing in India. They explain the features of their latest addition, the world-famous ‘The GJJ passenger hoist’, and we always exhibit these products. This hoist is equipped with a SEW Germany mechanism. It includes Siemens Germany VFD and PLC, Schmersal Germany limit switches, and all the safety features required for any construction project in the world. 

For BKT, Excon is an excellent platform to connect with customers and showcase and launch new products. Even though the industry missed a year due to COVID, the enthusiasm from the exhibitors and visitors alike is unmatched. “This is a golden exhibition for those related to construction, infrastructure, mining, and metal handling, directly or indirectly.” It is an excellent opportunity to nurture new talents as well, “says Chhajer, Sr. GM-OE Sales, BKT Tires.

Columbia Machinery exhibited an impressive range of equipment at CII Excon that is enabled with the latest technologies to deliver maximum uptime and efficiency. Looking at the increased investments in large-scale infra projects, Ramesh Babbar, President & Director, Columbia Machine Engineering, said, “As the Indian economy grows, larger machines with more production capacity are being considered.” 

Regarding business meetings with industry leaders and customers, Excon has always been a unique experience for Vasim Pradhan, Sales Head—India & International Business, Ashar Locker. Except for the climatic disruption that created some discomfort for the visitors, there was a minor drop in the expected footfall during the exhibition’s first two days, but we gained good traction after that.

Elgi Equipment looks at Excon from a broader perspective in the building and infrastructure sector. The amount of footfall indicates that the activity level has increased dramatically. “After speaking with a number of our clients, we’ve discovered that the number of projects they’re working on is at an all-time high. And, when I consider the number of machines we’re selling, I believe it just demonstrates that the government’s discourse about infrastructure is being implemented on the ground,” explains Rajesh Premchandran, Director – India, South Asia, Africa & the Middle-East, Elgi Equipments Limited.

Irrespective of the disruption caused by the weather, we have had an excellent experience. We have had around 14,000 plus visitors at our stall. We have been witnessing multiple conferences and participating heavily in all the road shows, subsequently organising conferences within. This has been adding a lot of value not just for the industry but also for the government and society, says Deepak Tiwari, General Manager Infra, Mining & Fleet Business, Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited.

Excon was a fantastic opportunity in the post-Covid situation since it allowed us to meet with our customers in person and better understand their viewpoint. Surprisingly, the government is very interested in the event, and high army officials have visited us,” highlights Debabrata Chakraborty, Head-Sales and Marketing, Pakona Engineering.

Expressing confidence in the exhibition, which got off well amid disruptions, Prashant Suryawahshi, Managing Director, Manitowoc Cranes Potain India Pvt. Ltd., says, “We were ecstatic to be a part of a physical event after a two-year hiatus from COVID. To begin with, the event was a little slow due to climate change, which ruined it. Nonetheless, I am optimistic about the event’s outcome.”

Excon was an ideal platform for showcasing innovation, new products, and digital services and expanding our capabilities and production capacity. “This was an excellent opportunity for us to serve our customers.” We’ve also had the opportunity to meet several of our existing customers and collaborate with them to exhibit our latest industrial offerings,” says Debanjali Sengupta, Country Head, Shell Lubricants India.

The previous two years were difficult in terms of personal and physical communication in terms of business with our clients and customers. R Senthil Kumar, Vice President – Marketing, Simpsons Co. Ltd., views Excon as a platform to break the communication barrier and meet our clients, suppliers, partners, and competitors under one roof and exchange our ideas and views that are forward-looking for industrial growth. “

On the other hand, Terex expressed gratitude for the footfall experienced during the exhibition. Viraj Parthi, Sales Director, Terex, termed it a bag of mixed experiences, as the first day was hectic. Furthermore, the climate added more challenges and havoc that hugely impacted them. But our team’s efforts were outstanding, as they assisted us in putting everything in place.

“It is wonderful to be back to business and to the preCOVID times in terms of physical events and to meet all the participants and customers, and experience the positive spirit and vibe in the business,” says Vivek Bhatia, Managing Director & CEO, thyssenKrupp Industries India Pvt. Ltd.

“Excon is one of the first and largest exhibitions in the past few years since Covid, and everyone is optimistic and thrilled about it.” Moreover, the footfall reflects enthusiasm. We met a significant number of existing and new clients. “Ranjan Sen, Managing Director, Trelleborg India Private Limited. 

For the first time, Ultra Lubes Plus will exhibit at Excon. One of the reasons was the two-year break, so it was the right time to come out and show our services to our customers. Siddesh Savant, Director-Business Development, Ultra Plus Lubes Pvt. Ltd., feels that the market has also grown tremendously, and there is now a broader understanding of testing and getting oils tested for preventative maintenance, which was previously unavailable. However, customer attitudes are changing.

Market opportunities, challenges, and prospects 

India’s infrastructure is well-positioned to help the country become a $5 trillion economy. The government has put a lot of money into infrastructure development, but it should create a committee to oversee the commodity index.

But it also has various impacts across the industries, says Manoj Kumar, Managing Director, Armix Machinery. Especially with the present global pricing trends for materials and metals. Even steel prices have risen, and freight costs have increased as well. He further believes that the prices will come down in a few months. It might take another two to three years for things to normalise. Still, I think the Indian government, entrepreneurs, and the industry can decide to turn this problem into an opportunity.

Of course, it influences both raw material purchases and exports. From a sales standpoint, India’s exports are expanding, says Dhanraj Kalbhor, Managing Director, NORD Drivesystems. NORD has subsidiaries in nearly every country, including Singapore, Southeast Asia, China, India, and Indonesia, and they are pitching in on the back end of the supply chain. Further commenting on the challenging aspect, he says, “Many of the components are only available outside India.” We get roughly 70% to 75% of our material from our other businesses. The new development within India has begun for us, and my team has assured us that it will be completed on schedule. Many local developments, particularly housing, have begun.

Harpreet Singh Wahan, Business Director, Enovation Controls India Pvt. Ltd., is hopeful that the situation will possibly be settled in the coming 8–9 months. Although the demand is increasing today, a graphical change will gradually occur in the coming months. “But the market will gain momentum again in two years. After that, there will be an easily 12 to 15 percent year-on-year increase,” he adds.

“The last three years have been unusually on a global scale, especially in the aftermath of COVID. All the projects were put on hold, followed by a steep decline in the equipment business. The following year, we saw a pent-up demand, which was followed by a supply chain crash, and manufacturing was under pressure from large orders. As a result, we saw a sharp drop followed by a sharp increase,” says Sanjeev Bajaj, CE-Escorts Construction Equipment.

Last year, the industry shrank by 8 percent, but in the previous three months, the pace of tendering has increased, and there are more and more tenders being released. Also, the allocation of funds to the state government, which was announced as a part of the budget, augured very well. “While we are going through some challenges in the short term, I feel very confident that in 2023 we should see good momentum.” And we expect 15 to 20 percent growth compared to where we were last year, “adds Deepak Shetty, CEO and Managing Director, JCB India.

Looking at the available opportunities and the growth trends, Deepak Garg, Managing Director, Sany India, and South Asia, shares his optimism about growing by multi-folds in the coming decade. Even the imports of used equipment are coming down, which again creates business opportunities for new machines by increasing localisation and indigenous manufacturing. 

Surat Mehta, Business Head, SDLG India, on the other hand, is concerned that currently, we are bearing the majority of the cost and passing a slight increase on to the customer. However, once it reaches a plateau, we can stabilise, making it a win-win situation for our clients and us. He further mentions that the contractor’s prices will rise over time. They will be more able to pay if they continue to earn better rates. Even freight prices have increased eight to nine times in the last few years. We will incur higher costs as a result of this.

“We believe the next two years will be positive and prosperous for our business as infrastructure is projected to drive the Indian economy even further.” And as industry leaders, we are supporting our government in all possible ways to succeed in this drive. “Furthermore, based on the number of construction and infrastructure projects currently in the pipeline, we can anticipate an average growth rate of around 15% if even half of that is completed within the next two years. We can sell up to 20 percent more than we do now, “says Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi.

Combating emissions with digitalisation in equipment and solutions

Commenting on the efficiency aspect, Dinakar B, Executive Vice President, Volvo Trucks VE Commercial Vehicles, highlights that VECV doesn’t simply sell the truck; we look at fleet requirements, optimisation, fleet mix, and other factors throughout the pre-sale process. “The aftermarket support ranges from routine maintenance to parts availability, as well as site support that includes the construction of a separate bay workshop on site, the retention of a technician, and the allocation of spare parts to him.”

When it comes to electromobility, “I believe it will take some time to achieve not only efficient electric mobility but also to provide electricity. Coal power currently generates 65 percent of India’s electricity. Going electric, therefore, does not address the environmental issue, “says Miron Thoms, Vice President & Head, Volvo Penta India. The ultimate goal is not to have an electric driveline; the ultimate goal is to have a cleaner environment. We can consider various concepts, whereas electromobility is only one milestone.

“Caterpillar has been at the forefront of the corporate world for many decades.” Through digitalisation, our dealers deliver a wide range of services. We have a technology called product link, which allows our customers to monitor the operations of their equipment as well as their performance and health statistics on their mobile phones,” emphasises Mukul Dixit, Director – Sales & Marketing-Global Construction Infrastructure, Caterpillar India Pvt. Ltd. Based on that information, our dealers provide a variety of services, including preventative maintenance, customer value agreements (CVAs) to improve uptime, and various recon solutions.

Prashant Kumar, Executive Director, SICOMA Mixers India Private Limited, talks about having the Internet of Things (IoT) implemented in their Mixers to allow for remote performance monitoring. This will aid in the analysis of performance parameters, resulting in significant cost savings on O & M. “We have implemented this on the bigger mixers and are conducting field trials.” Once field validation is complete, it will become a standard feature on all mixers. This will be offered to our end customers on an annual subscription basis, “he adds.

Filtrec has developed seven-layer elements, an advancement from the existing five-layer elements. The new technology offers high performance in terms of life cycle as well as filtration efficiency. The high dirt holding capacity (DHC) and low-pressure drop increase element life. They have developed a filter element that will not generate ESD. The issue of ESD in filter elements can lead to the unexpected problem of physical damage to the parts due to an accumulation of static potential in the media, which then discharges within the element itself.

Infrastructure construction will begin soon

With the closure of Excon on an optimistic note, the construction, infrastructure, equipment, and all the allied industries are looking forward to maintaining healthy relationships with their existing customers and having confidence in considering them for their upcoming new development based on our engine performance and quality. India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world. It is expected to be one of the top three economic powers in the world over the next 10-15 years, backed by its robust democracy and strong partnerships. Over the last decade, infrastructure growth has been exponential. Today, we are the fourth largest and probably the second-fastest growing economy, with infrastructure being one of the cornerstones.