Jalaj Gupta, Business Head – Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, Mahindra Group. In an interview with B2B Purchase

So far, how has the mining and earthmoving equipment business fared? 

The overall market has shrunk by 45 percent since last year. The sales figures for now are not that promising. Sales of all equipment types will rise with respect to 2020, except for irregularly sold machines such as articulated dump trucks, crawler loaders, and wheeled excavators, which cannot be predicted. Numerous factors, such as the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), other government infrastructure programmes, the macro-economic situation, policies and reforms, and challenges that affect the construction equipment market will influence the market to grow year on year. 

It predicts that the market will grow by 11 percent in 2021, and that assuming a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic does not hit the country, sales will grow by 15 percent in 2022 and another 11 percent in 2023. The impact of the general election, as seen in the past, will reduce sales of construction equipment by 8 percent in 2024, but the market should then recover by 11 percent in 2025.

How are the companies adhering to the BS IV standards for regulating and decreasing emissions and pollution at work?

For BS standards to be followed, updating engines to the next-gen becomes necessary. So what does the shift from an earlier standard to next-gen BS emission norms really mean as far as vehicle product development is concerned? Moreover, how does it affect the crucial engine’s construction and performance?

At the top level, we need to understand that a BS4 engine is able to manage and control evaporative vehicular emissions much better than a BS3 engine, resulting in a cleaner, less polluting vehicle.

The big change is about 90 percent reduction of particulate matter (PM) in BS4 engines higher than 50 HP. The highly toxic Nitrous Oxide (NOx) vapour emissions go down by a whopping 92 percent in BS4 engines higher than 75 HP. Apart from adopting newer engine technology, there are electronically driven changes too when it comes to differences in BS3 and BS4 norms. To be deemed BS4 compliant, vehicles need to have On Board Diagnostics (OBD) whereby an in-vehicle electronic panel will continuously monitor engine performance and display the vehicle’s vital stats in real time.

In conclusion, it need appreciation for the construction equipment business, conforming to the new BS4 standards as per stated timeline, has led to manufacturers making huge investments in expensive technology, leading to the benefit of an entire latest gen of advanced machines.

How technologies like AI, IoT, and 3D printing are being used in day-to-day processes?

Mahindra Construction Equipment has been a pioneer in providing telematics solution to its customers in the construction equipment industry. Continuing the legacy, we are pleased to introduce iMAXX Telematics Technology, a prognostic, diagnostic and predictive fleet management system in our entire range of EarthMaster and RoadMaster. You can think of it as your personal assistant that updates you with vital information about your equipment and your business. iMAXX is already tried and tested solutions in our trucks business and has benefitted the customers in many ways. 

These products has one year warranty with unlimited hours, further eliminating the customers anxiety at times of expensive repairs. This is possible due to Mahindra’s engineering and manufacturing capability, backed up by a gruelling testing regime and sourcing of the best components and the simplicity of the machine design.

What are the investment, financial, and project timeline challenges?

We, at Mahindra Construction Equipment, a part of US$19.4 Billion Mahindra Group, are committed to manufacture the best quality construction equipment that not only contribute to the building India but play a pivotal role in success stories of many other developing countries. With “Rise” as its governing spirit and backed by decades of manufacturing top-notch agriculture equipment and utility vehicles, Mahindra Group has come up with products that implement breakthrough technology. Machines like never seen before in the Indian construction industry. We have our manufacturing unit in Chakan, Pune. Operating in a large area of 10,000 sq. m., we use the latest State-of-the-Art technology and fully automatic robotic welding units to create superior products with an impeccable finish. 

Please talk about your focus on the existing product range including Earthmaster and how will it deliver better value for customers?

With BSIV, the entire EarthMaster Range of Backhoe Loaders is enhanced in terms of both productivity and features. Powered with a reliable 74 HP CRi Mahindra Engine, it now has 13 percent higher torque compared to BS-III, leading to improved machine’s loader efficiency. With improved hydraulic system, which has a higher flow handling capacity, and other improvements, leads to overall production capacities improvement of 10 percent. EarthMaster range is well suited for all types of backhoe applications be it mining, trenching, crushers, building construction or any other work in construction industry. It would be available in two variants – SX & VX.

SX Smart50 is a product in a new low range HP category that is an optimum solution for the hirer segment. It complements the requirement of price sensitive customer in a highly competitive low margin segment. 

EarthMaster Range comes with ergonomically designed keeping operator comfort at the forefront. It is designed to offer profit and property to our customers by delivering lowest maintenance cost in its category. 

BSIV RoadMaster range offers an optimised solution and precisely caters to the road contractor’s grading needs for government flagship.

G9075; is powered with 74HP CRI Engine and increased torque up to 350 NM which is ideal for State highways, Rural Roads, District Roads, and other projects under PMGSY.  

G9595 is powered with 95 HP CRi Engine and increased torque up to 400 NM, which is ideal for National Highway and their expansion process.

How is the renting business progressing in this sector? Do you see a bright future for equipment renting?

Construction projects are on the rise and soon you will witness the prospect of buying or renting construction equipment. While you can choose to buy any of the excellent machines that Mahindra has to offer, renting machines from ‘Hello Machine would be a prudent choice for your business. 70 percent of equipment involved in construction activities are on hire basis. However, there is a big difference between renting from the unorganised sector and from ‘Hello Machine’, a service offered by Mahindra Group. 

Advantage of machine rentals is that you can adopt an Asset Light Model for your business. You need not block capital to purchase construction machines; hence, you minimise the project cost significantly. You also enjoy a lower maintenance cost, and you help improve uptime. The industry is ever growing as per the infrastructure growth trend of India. Huge contractors are now shifting slowly towards renting equipment from organised sector then actual management of buying and maintaining it.