We planned investment and growth in big way for India, but in the present situation, we are in wait-and-watch mode- Ajay Kumar Somani, Director, Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India
The crane market in India, especially for high-capacity crawler cranes and all-terrain cranes above 100 tonnes, are going through an alarming stage. There is a total depression in market due to slowdown on thermal power plants. Nuclear power plants and wind mill market are in turmoil due to reduction of depreciation in the first year of investment.
Demand in Indian crane marketAs the most crane hiring companies are having very little business, a lot of cranes are idling, which is leading to an extensive rental cut and effecting buying of new cranes. The requirements — compared to last two years — have drastically come down. This year there is no growth in spite of a projected high demand by Reliance Industries.
Competition in Indian marketAt present to capture whatever orders possible, some companies are collecting orders at a very low price, higher warranty periods and longer usage period which are very dangerous as order with unreasonable low mark-up will result in a disaster.
Technology innovationThere are a few innovations. For example: Crawler cranes with telescopic boom which are very easy to move in a running plant.
Challenges to overcomeThere was a lot of emphasis on BRICS countries. Among the five-fast growing countries, India is not going in same pace and falling out of this group. We also planned investment and growth in big way for India, but in the present situation, we are in wait-and-watch mode.
Market for used cranes in IndiaThere is a slowdown in used-crane market also. The used-crane market in India was quite strong but most of the used cranes coming to country were very old. Even the quality was in question as they’re purchased from traders and auction houses. Now most of the end-users are putting an age embargo on used cranes.