As a period of certainty and uncertainty prevails in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, the construction and maintenance stakeholders in India will have to be resilient and open up to an increased level of automation.

Adversities have a novel way of testing a man’s resilience and in the current scenario, the novel coronavirus has managed to do just that. Developed economies, developing economies and third world countries everyone has been put to test. From MSMEs to SMEs and the big boys everyone has been forced to adapt to a new normal; a scenario where the execution of day to day tasks have been altered keeping in mind the rules of social distancing. As construction activity resumes in bits and pieces the stakeholders are looking at the long term implications.

VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India Private Limited says “The turnover for the month of March was not as per the plan due to sudden lockdown of factories and construction activities in India. April was a complete standstill and the extended lockdown is likely to hit the May turnover also. The economic hardship has affected the daily wage workers, corporate companies, small businesses, MSMEs and practically every commercial establishment. As such the construction equipment (CE) sector was experiencing a slowdown since 2019 due to issues like reduced demand, NBFC problem, dip in automotive sales (BS4-BS6 issues), etc. And now this sudden lockdown has further added to our woes.”

During monsoon, the construction activities come to a halt. This is also a time when most of the surplus labourers are homebound. But owing to the frenzy which Covid-19 led to this happened much earlier. Kuldip Grover, Project Manager, Turner Project Management India Pvt Ltd says “The construction and infrastructure segments have been amongst the worst hit owing to Covid-19 pandemic. The situation will be challenging for the next few quarters, post which some stability can be expected in the sector. Liquidity will be a major issue as both public and private sector investments will take a backseat. Existing projects, especially in the private sector shall see roll-over collection shortfalls. As more projects reach the stage of criticality, access to alternative funds shall become difficult due to dipping market confidence.”

Having said that the situation post the pandemic may not be ‘all gloomy’ Puneet Vidyarthi, Brand Leader, Case India. “A KPMG report suggests a deceleration of the GDP growth and a rather subdued revival of vital sectors of the country in the current fiscal. This transition will reflect on the construction and infrastructure segment as well. However, silver linings do exist for the sector in the form of recent announcements by the government to double the pace on project distribution and construction. If these assurances come to fruition, the CE Industry can expect an upward curve in the coming months.”

Likewise, the global sentiments too will play a major role in determining India’s future. Says Kuldip “Realignment of global sentiments post coronavirus pandemic could lead to a shift in manufacturing base to countries like India owing to strong politico-legal systems. A robust policy framework supported by continuous public spending by the government shall help the industry even if it leads to a marginal increase in the fiscal deficit.”

While the dance of the pandemic continues as also the dance of democracy, rules have to be adhered to. Keyboard warriors across different social media, the flow of misinformation and hate in the digital platforms has to be curtailed. Sanity and logic should be allowed to prevail across the different religious and economic denominations of the country as also the corporate stakeholders of the nation. Wilfried Theissen, Managing Director, Putzmeister India says “We all have to come to terms with the fact that social distancing, wearing masks and doing your best to stop the spread of Covid-19 is going to become the norm till we find a cure and develop the necessary vaccines. This will naturally have an impact on all industries. As activity resumes on jobsites, the focus will be on having all the safety measures in place. By adhering to mandatory norms set by the central, state and local authorities, we will guarantee the safety of our workforce and other staff. Putzmeister has also developed a set of norms for the safe handling of our equipment and we are currently training our customers, equipment operators and our after-sales team to enable a safe and smooth restart. We also expect to see an increased focus on mechanisation to reduce contact between people and to make up for time lost during the lockdown.” 

The new economy will push for an increased role of technology, innovation and mechanisation to take centre stage in the ongoing and post-pandemic world. Construction Equipment manufacturers too realise the need of hour Debasis Bhattacharya, Head – Marketing, Sales & Product Support at AJAX Engineering Pvt Ltd says “AJAX has become more resilient, adaptive and competitive in this complex and uncertain period of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have a strong focus on the capabilities needed to succeed in the constantly changing market dynamics especially in such times, thanks to our technological innovation that has been able to keep up with the challenges.”

Summarising it up Puneet Vidyarthi says “The easy availability of labour also contributes to some sluggishness in adopting automation and AI. However, we are firm believers in adopting technology that enables us to work better. Our machines are prime examples of this. Whether it is the revolutionary FPT engine or the state of the art Telematics systems – we like leading from the front when it comes to technology that enables. We’re not big fans of using tech where it is not necessary. But if we find that it can benefit productivity and help our customers in any way – we’re all in.”