Kobelco Construction Machinery, Japan, has a long history in the Construction Equipment industry spanning over 80 years. It has several state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Japan as well as in countries like China, Thailand and India. KCM has its own R & D Centre which conducts research on a wide range of materials and processes, and provides the leading edge in our product innovations and improvements. Mr. Vikram Sharma, MD & CEO, M/s Kobelco Construction Equipment India Pvt. Ltd. Shares his outlook on construction equipment industry of India.
- Over view on Construction Equipment industry.
The Indian Construction Equipment industry is still developing and the scenario is quite different from most of the developed markets of Europe, North America and even East Asia. The lack of any regulation on emission norms and safety (both important considerations in most countries) adds to the problem as cheaper products with older technologies tend to dominate the market. Machines with more advanced technological features are more expensive though with long term benefits. The market is showing a very slow shift towards value added features.
- How does Indian C.E sector foresee near future.
In terms of overall size and growth, the potential continues to be high but actual growth is still eluding most players as most of the Govt. initiatives are taking time to bear results. Political challenges continue to affect reforms and development programmes. However, the prospect of faster growth is anticipated from the coming year. Global economic and political scenarios also influence the pace of growth.
- Would it be right to say that AMRUT & Smart CitiesInitiative have raised positive hopes and made C.EIndustry optimistic?
These are ambitious programmes taken up by the Govt. They are bound to increase the pace of development and also make it more inclusive. However, for our specific product range, the real potential may be limited.
- What are your Short term objectives?
We continue to focus on consolidating our relationship with existing Customers by constantly developing our support network and the competence of our team members. We also continue our efforts on enhancing our product features for better returns on the investment of our Customers.
- What are your expectations from Excon Fair 2015?
Excon provides an excellent platform to not only showcase our products and improve our market visibility but is an excellent opportunity to interact with a cross-section of the industry stakeholders and the latest trends in the Construction Equipment field. We are displaying two of our models – the 14 ton SK140HDLC, now being made at the India factory, and the new SK500 with AT offering more productivity options to our discerning Customers. We expect our market shares to improve for these two models especially.
