Injecting liquidity into the system by clearing payments will help the entire ecosystem and bring some much needed relief to the sector says Wilfried Theissen, Managing Director, Putzmeister India.

How do you expect Atmanirbhar Bharat to impact your sector?
The concrete equipment market is led by international players operating in India. These companies have been in India for a long time and invested heavily in local manufacturing and R&D facilities as also their sales and after-sales support network. 

Since 1997, Putzmeister has been manufacturing its concrete equipment locally, in Goa. We cater to customers in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, South East Asia, Japan, Africa and the Middle East. We don’t expect companies such as ours to see any negative impact. Players who were looking to introduce imported equipment to the market may find it challenging in the current scenario.  

In terms of your equipment range market dynamics, what will be the new state of affair after 2020? Even before the Covid-19 lockdown, the concrete equipment industry was cautiously optimistic in its projections for 2020. We expected an uptick in demand in the last quarter of this year. It is safe to say that all those projections are out of the window. The industry registered minimal sales in the April-June quarter. And while demand has picked up a little bit in July and August, we expect a slow recovery that could continue into the first quarter of 2021. In the longer term, we could see an increased focus on mechanizing construction practices.

How will the pandemic catalyse the R&D for the development of future machines in this industry?
The Putzmeister Group follows a continuous R&D model and the lockdown has not slowed us down. We will continue to work with our customers and operators in shaping high performance and efficient solutions best suited for the local markets. 

Various industry players, including Putzmeister, were already offering telematics solutions to help with remote monitoring of equipment. Soon such solutions will become the norm. One of the areas that will get increased focus is work practices at the job site. The pandemic is not expected to go away anytime soon. And yet, for the economy to recover, work has to resume. 

Construction players will have to develop sustainable measures to ensure the health and safety of people on the site. Since our equipment needs less manpower it can aid the concept of social distancing on the job site.

What kind of infrastructure upgrade initiatives should the government focus on to ensure the construction sector remains in robust health?
The government has set ambitious targets for infra development in this country. What the construction industry needs is for long-standing liquidity issues to ease up. Various government agencies still owe construction companies and contractors large sums. Injecting liquidity into the system by clearing payments will help the entire ecosystem and bring some much needed relief to the sector.

What are some of the products driving growth for your business in the current economic cycle?
The current economic cycle is not conducive to growth. Most concrete equipment segments are starting to show signs of returning to 2019 levels. That said 2019 was a slower year as compared to 2018. We expect that the industry as a whole is more focussed on retaining market shares and helping customers navigate the challenges brought on by the lockdown, rather than growth. 

What are the equipment financing options and technology support you have made available for your customers?
We have tie-ups with financers for all our concrete equipment. In terms of support, we continue to offer our customers first-class maintenance, service, and parts support. The Putzmeister Group has 60+ years of global experience; our equipment has delivered performance and productivity across every type of applications and environmental conditions. 

We offer specialized application support to help customers make the most out of their equipment. For our boom pump customers, we are rolling our remote fleet management solution Putzmeister Machine Cockpit. On more challenging projects, we also offer onsite support to ensure the smooth running of equipment and maximise uptime.