CII EXCON 2017 ushers in Smart Technologies for Next Gen Infrastructure in India
The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) EXCON 2017 – South Asia’s largest construction equipment exhibition second day concluded with overwhelming response from participants and visitors. CII is organizing EXCON 2017 from 12th to 16thDecember, 2017 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru with the theme ‘Smart Technologies Fueling Next Gen Infra’.
On the second day of EXCON 2017, CII & ICEMA organised a Conference on “Next-Gen Infrastructure”. The Chief Guests at the conference were Mr. R. V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka and Mr. K. T. Rama Rao,Minister of IT, Municipal Admin & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Sugar, Mines & Geology, NRI Affairs, Government of Telangana.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Mr. Deshpande said, “Creation of human resources is the biggest challenge in present day and has urged the Infrastructure Industry Captains to create good jobs. It is our duty to create good jobs for the prosperity of the state; however automation, digitization and robotics have replaced human jobs. We have already created more than 13 lakh jobs by September 2017 and 5 lakh more jobs are in the pipeline. I also encourage the industry to invent and invest in Karnataka and promote ease of doing businesses. Infrastructure is the key for economic, social and human resource development. It’s a key and priority area for the state.”
Adding to this, Mr. Rama Rao said that “Both Government and Private sectors need to come out with a Jugaad model, among others, to create more robust Infrastructure. We welcome those who come and set up manufacturing ancillaries units here. We have moved away from red tape to red carpet to attract our investors in the state. As part of the Telangana Government’s industrial policy, the entrepreneurs seeking to set up their manufacturing facilities do not require government permission. If their project is already complete and the land is approved their certification process would only take 15 days. If you want India to propel to a global economy, India needs infrastructure but with unique innovation. Telangana today is ranked No. 1 in the Central government’s index of ease of doing business.”
Mr.T C A Ranganathan, Former Chairman & MD, Export-Import Bank of India said, “the current change of cycle has started in adopting technologies in a quick way. India is on rapid growth in exports and has doubled the market rates in the last decade.The international average is about 20-25% of total exports as compared to 5% toIndia’s exports. The internal growth rate of CAGR for India is about 20% but not enough companies are coming in. Companies need to be more capital intensive if it needs to be technology intensive. Also, we should be producers of technology which will further propel the growth of our nation.”
“Our industry is embracing new digital experiences by integrating big data and IoT in our products and services. The infrastructure sector in any economy is regarded as the engine of growth, but very importantly of employment. The Indian infrastructure sector will continue to grow with the growth of our industry – the Indian construction and equipment industry. Technology is enabling our businesses at an unprecedented rate and every industry is adapting to this change and I can proudly say that we have completely embraced the essence of this transformation. It’s important to be scalable and sustainable in an era of disruptive technology. With the support of Central and State Government in irrigation, road construction, etc. and importantly irrigation at the village level, these technologies will play an important role in the overall development and building an infrastructure on time, scalable and sustainable. CII EXCON becomes the platform for domestic and global OEMs to exhibit their breakthrough technologies and services. Very importantly, small and medium industries, component manufacturers exhibit technologies and are part of a global supply chain. The one suggestion is that the need for urgent revival of PPP model which is relevant to the centre and very relevant to the state, to create conducive environment for policy framework to bring in private investment to the sector”, expressed Mr. Sondhi, Chairman, CII EXCON 2017 through his address.
Mr. Arvind Garg, President, ICEMA in his address, said “It’s a great privilege for us to have two very dynamic ministers at CII Excon 2017 today for the inaugural session. They really represent what we are trying to talk about at this forum. Mr. Deshpande is the one who is trying to drive Karnataka towards Next Gen. We also are in the presence of a Minister from Telangana who is very passionate for this industry. In terms of Make in India and Make in Karnataka, Southern States play a very key role in the growth of construction industry. The industry is currently growing at about 15% p.a. Despite the various challenges this year, we are still growing at such a commendable pace.
Mr Deepak Kumar Hota, Chairman & Managing Director, BEML Ltd; Mr V Ravichandar, CMD, Feedback Business Consulting; Brig R S Sehgal,Deputy Director General, Borders Roads Organisation and Mr D K Vyas, Convenor, Conference Panel, ICEMA also spoke.
The inaugural session was then followed by sessions on ‘Future Technologies – Its impact on construction equipment industry’, ‘Infra Development – Voice of Customers’ and on ‘Government Projects – The Key Enabler’.
The Government of Karnataka is the Host State for EXCON 2017. The Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) is the Sector Partner and supported by the Builders Association of India (BAI).
