Our Anti-Collision systems for the tower cranes offer an added safety to the machine which ensures a safe working environment for the machine as also the working personals on-site, says Shanker Raj, GM, Everest Engineering Equipment Pvt Ltd.

Could you brief us about the cranes industry in India, the latest trends and market dynamics?
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Indian cranes industry did see a downward growth but the industry is coming back up to the speed it was earlier. The major difference is that the demand for machineries on a rental has quadrupled. This is great news for the industry as a whole because this will make sure sale of machineries and the rental companies will be able to thrive as well. These practices have been there in many developed countries and now even Indian companies are following it.

What steps have you undertaken to overcome the impact of Covid-19 and how are you planning to expand your market share?
We have been in the market for a long time and were able to foresee that a tough time is coming up. The industry was expected to turn towards the renting options for approximately one-year post lockdown. This anticipation made us start a new vertical to our current business in the name of Everest Rentals Private Limited. All the world-class state-of-the-art machineries that we were selling earlier are now available on a rental basis as well.

What are your various crane offerings, lifting capacities, cutting edge technological innovations, applications and their demand in the Indian market?
Indian industry is slowly moving towards the precast construction methodology which helps the companies to complete projects in a shorter time. Since we are offering highly reliable and power-saving machineries, we expect more orders from Indian clients who are keen to reduce their power consumption. Everest Engineering Equipment’s range of machines start from 8T and goes all the way up to 120T. Also, our Anti-Collision systems for the tower cranes offer an added safety to the machine which ensures a safe working environment for the machine as also the working personals on-site. With the rise of precast buildings in the country, we have incorporated gantry cranes as well into our Anti-Collision systems making them suitable for any operation. Whether it is at the site or the casting yard, you can work safely.

According to you, what is Everest Engineering Equipment’s USP vis a vis competition in the market? Our USP has always been after-sales support. We also offer high-quality machines which can work at least 15 years without any major breakdowns. Likewise, the Indian market too is slowly turning towards the utilization of quality products rather than cheaper products.

What kind of safety features have you incorporated in your products?
To take care of the safety of the machines and personnel are equally important for us and that is the reason we take immense pride in offering tower crane Anti-Collision systems in India. We have successfully installed 400 Anti-Collision systems in the last 5-6 years. We also continuously train our customers to maintain and upgrade the safety measures at their sites at all times.

To meet the market requirements, what kind of efforts are you undertaking for indigenization process? Starting a new vertical, the rental company was our effort to cater to what the market requires. Our customers have been asking us how can we ensure the safety levels as offered by your Anti-Collision system if our tower crane is a rented one? The incorporation of rental of Anti-Collision system for tower cranes is also a new way of answering the customers’ requirement. This helps the clients to make sure that in tough times like this, they can bank on us.

What are your plans for the Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative?
We have taken it seriously and are already in talks with our Chinese partners to join hands for technology sharing and moving forward for manufacturing in India. Even they are familiar that just like China, India itself is a great buyer and with India’s strategic location, in the geopolitical environment it helps capture more market with exports.

How is Everest Engineering’s aftermarket services a strategic differentiator in the market?
Keeping in the view that the construction industry is mechanized, we provide the quickest service on a PAN India basis, we have a team of 50 trained engineers and technicians dedicated to offer on-time service and support.

What is your future outlook for the company and going forward, what would be your strategy in the price-sensitive market?
Indian market is slowly moving from price-sensitive to reliability. Many customers have started calculating the power savings on each machinery as also manpower losses and project delay losses owing to break downs. Customers now understand that these losses are very huge compared to the price advantage offered by cheaper machines. So, we are quite positive about the future of the industry and as well as our company. Even during the Covid-19 crisis we did not lay off any employee, in fact we have increased our team size from 45 to 50 members. Just like our relentless service to our customers we take care of our employees too.