Recently during an interaction with the Union Minister of Roads Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari, the Minister reiterated that he was proud to have launched a CNG based equipment model of JCB. The JCB 3DX DFi industry’s first dual-fuel CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) Backhoe Loader can operate on CNG and diesel simultaneously using the HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) technology. Environment and therefore emissions have become a major element of innovation today. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had notified amendment to CMVR 1989 through GSR 598(E) dated 30 September 2020 deferring the applicability date for implementing the next stage of emission norms for tractors (TREM Stage-IV) from October 2020 to October 2021 and for the CEV, the applicability of the next phase of emission norms is proposed to be with effect from April 1, 2021. The CE industry has now to contend with the higher capital cost of offering the new emission norms. Fortunately, the infrastructure impetus provided in the Union Budget 2021-22 should be able to allay the burden of this capex. The road ministry has clocked construction of 30 km per day during the year hit by the pandemic paving the way for a credible target of 40 km per day in the year ahead.

One of the biggest exhibitions for the construction industry, organised by bauma and CONEXPO, bCIndia, which was deferred from November 2020 to April 2021, has now been finally cancelled in the light of the pandemic. Speaking on the impact Samir Bansal, General Manager, Off-Highway Research stated, “The current demand for CE is not being fully met owing to supply constraints; therefore, cancellation of the show will not have an immediate impact on sales.”

The government’s ambitious vision in the form of the Rs 111 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), has budgeted 34 per cent for transportation infrastructure. Apart from roads, the metro rail construction pace is also boosting the order books of contractors. Until 2014 the metro network was operational for about 248 km in five cities. With a consistent push by the government, the metro network has expanded by more than 469 km, and a total of 717 km Metro is operational in 18 cities today and going forward Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri told us in an exclusive interaction that the metro system would extend to 1,000 km of operational Metro by the 75th year of our independence, that is, 2022 and 1,700 km metro rail in 25 cities by 2025 and then extend the metro network to 50 cities in the years to come.

Motor graders are used for grading and levelling of ground surfaces. Major applications are in road projects, airports, urban infrastructure and mining where grading and levelling is needed. Demand for motor graders is picking up with the road projects are on fast track. Motor graders are now being used in smaller and rural infrastructure projects also apart from bigger road projects and airport runways. The cover story on motor graders focuses on the market scenario and demand drivers for motor graders, market opportunities and challenges, technology trends and market outlook.

Skid-steer loaders are gaining importance in the recent years due to the reasons of more mechanisation in rural construction sector and non-availability of labour, after the corona crisis. Also, more urbanisation in the country prompts for compact multifunctional equipment like skid-steer loaders. Thus, skid steer loaders are becoming a viable option for many municipal corporations and urban local bodies to carry out various applications in narrow space due to its compact size. Though the skid steer loader market in India is relatively at a nascent stage, equipment manufacturers are quite confident that the equipment’s sound technical features in diverse sectors will create strong demand for the machine. The feature on skid-steer loader elaborates on the advantages of skid-steer loaders in the current scenario and way forward.

Equipment India’s 13^th Annual issue releases this month at a virtual event. The theme for the annual issue is on “Demand” and where it is coming from with experts providing their vision. Do sign up and look forward to the blockbuster issue.