Road minister wish to construct 100 kms road per day. Concrete equipment players share their opinion on how they see this as an opportunity

  The second largest road network in the world, India has over 47 lakh kms as in 2013. The quantitative density of India’s road network is compared to that of United States, whereas qualitatively India’s roads are a mixture of highways, narrow roads, paved and unpaved roads and is improving with each passing year.

In the past years the construction of roads have seen a decline in growth with various policy delays, late completion of work compared to the planned schedule, land acquisition issues and many more. But with the announcement of 30 kms per day by Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari aims to create a capacity for construction of 100 kms road per day and this is around 300 per cent more than earlier. This is set to change the phase of road network in India.

The announcement of “All Concrete Highways” with six to eight lanes high speed transit system will definitely boost up the infrastructure scenario in India. The time taken to travel between cities will come down; faster road transport means cheaper transportation of goods and huge savings in fuel cost as well.

Looking at the commitments made by Gadkari of assured funds, better policies and executive measures to speed up the clearances for the projects could be a great motivation for the concrete equipment industry.

“We are geared up for the 100 kms a day challenge by providing the contractors with all the required solution of concreting, be it in production of concrete, transporting it or placing the concrete. With our offerings of equipment with production capacity wide spread from a minimum of 3-4 cu.m/hr to 120 cu.m/hr, customers have an option of choosing the right equipment for their requirement and along with them Ajax Fiori is committed to build the nation,” states Debasis Bhattacharya, Head –Sales, Marketing and Product Support, Ajax Fiori Engineering (I) Pvt Ltd.

Every concrete equipment manufacturer will have a close watch on the announcements of various projects as the requirement of concrete equipment will be huge considering the road network of the country. The demand for concrete equipment will be immense and every concrete equipment manufacturer should plan effectively to meet the supplies and fulfil the need of its customer.

“The increased number of roads the government is planning, will give the concrete machine manufacturing industry a lot of opportunities to supply to the various contractors with batching plants for the production of concrete, transit mixers to get the concrete to the job side and concrete pumps to distribute the concrete where necessary. We at Putzmeister have the entire range of products so that we can offer turnkey solutions to our customers, builders and investors. We have not only the equipment but we also have the expertise and know how to help our customer to improve their processes on the job sites,” says Wilfried Theissen, Managing Director, Putzmeister Concrete Machines Pvt Ltd.

The market size is estimated to be around Rs 400-450 crore. Presently batching plants of 12 cu. m to 120 cu. m are major requirements of the market, with 1,100-1,200 plants, out of which, around 700 plants will be of 18 cu. m. The road minister’s ambition to have 100 kms roads a day will only create an off – take of higher capacity plants of 75 – 90 cu. m and above which would be around 75 – 100 units.

“Earlier failures on PQC and present shift from asphalt to concrete roads have made it mandatory for contractors to select better featured concrete plants with proven worldwide presence since many JVs are happening with major contractors from overseas participating in Indian works. Linnhoff India’s manufacturing facility in Khed, Pune is fully equipped to meet this demand as we offer Lintec concrete batching plants with German technology of higher capacity .i.e. 90 – 250 cu. m,” assures Ashok Tanna, Managing Director, Linnhoff India Pvt Ltd.

Gadkari also highlighted few innovative steps planned for the construction issues like usage of plastic waste which can be mixed upto 7-8 per cent in tar road construction and solid wastes can be used while constructing new highways.

If things fall into place as per Gadkari’s ambition, India can move from current second position to first position which will change the phase of the road network in the world.

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Linnhoff India’s manufacturing facility in Khed, Pune is fully equipped to meet this demand.

Ashok Tanna,
Managing Director,
Linnhoff India Pvt Ltd.

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We are geared up for the 100 kms a day challenge by providing the contractors with all the required solution of concreting.

Debasis Bhattacharya,
Head –Sales, Marketing and Product Support, Ajax Fiori Engineering (I) Pvt Ltd.

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We have not only the equipment but we also have the expertise and know how to help our customer to improve their processes on the job sites.

Wilfried Theissen,
Managing Director,
Putzmeister Concrete Machines Pvt Ltd