Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, JCB India

"It is up to the industry to take up the opportunity of the growth, build capacity across the value chain and then scale up," says Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, JCB India, while sharing his views on the construction equipment industry. The emphasis clearly is on creating capacity and backing it up with dealer network and efficient service."

In a growing economy, the construction equipment market mirrors the patterns of infrastructure development. After signi?ficant sales growth between 2003 and 2007, the CE industry growth graph came down. De-growth happened across the globe, also in India but to a limited extent. Recovery signals started coming in the last quarter of 2009. The market now seems to have fully recovered and there is every likelihood that demand is expected to follow a steady path. The signs are all positive. There is certain sense of vibrancy in the market. Growth is there which is very important," says Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, JCB India.

However, the question is to what extent is there growth, and how sustainable is it. Sondhi underlines, "I don't find any reason why sustainable growth should not be here to stay. Fundamentally we don't have any option but to create infrastructure in our country. And fortunately, the citizen is demanding it. The agenda of growth is cutting across the political spectrum. Today, nobody debates whether roads are required, or whether social infrastructures like schools and hospitals are required. If there is consensus on one issue, it is on the urgent need for infrastructure. What should be the mechanism however, for implementing the consensus in an inclusive manner; i.e. for land acquisition, rehabilitation etc., these issues have to be sorted out through dialogue amongst stakeholders."

The concern for a sustainable growth, which is inclusive, was evident when Sondhi was talking about the potential of mining. "There is tremendous potential. It has to be the future. And we have good reserves of coal, iron ore, bauxite etc, all of which are necessary to give infrastructure the necessary push. There is tremendous opportunity. But one thing what we need to do is to do it in a sustainable way; when you talk about mining rights, displacements of people affected, it is very important that people get a stake, either by direct jobs or by decent compensation and balance with environment be studied and understood."

Queried on why JCB's presence in the mining segment is limited, Sondhi replies, "Currently we have the 21- tonne excavator which can very well be used in the mining application. Fifty per cent of the global sales of excavators are the 20-21-tonne class. It is the same with India; it is not an India-centric phen?omenon. As far as the bigger tonnage excavators are concerned, we will defi?nitely bring higher tonnage of exca?vators in the days to come."

Speaking about the demand-supply scenario, Sondhi points out, "There are no supply constraints and the reason is that we are coming out of the downturn; capacity was added during the downturn, so yes capacity exists. Now the challenge is to create an efficient supply chain, and set up an effective distribution network." He further adds, "There will be always challenges and I don't think that there are challenges that are insurm?ountable. It is up to the industry to take up the opportunity of the growth, build capacity across the value chain and build scale too as mentioned earlier."

Says Sondhi, "And at the back end, you need to have a supply chain to make sure that day after day, hour after hour, you get the right component, at the right time, with the right quality and at the right cost. It's a challenge, but of course, as I mentioned, these are not insurm?ountable challenges. And we at JCB are very focused on that." And the numbers tell no other tale - according to him, JCB currently has over 360 dealer outlets. "We are very proud to say that we have more than 360 outlets, which is more than anybody else has. Our endeavour is to provide an excellent overall experience to the customers, be it the product or product support experience."

Asked about the low level of awareness on the versatile use of multiple atta?chments, Sondhi had this to say, "You are hundred per cent right. There is enormous opportunity in attachments. We will take advantage of this opportunity and you will see the result in a couple of years. We have taken whatever expertise that is available from overseas and have tailor-made it to suit the Indian condi?tions. For example, we have modified the grapples. We have more attachments which are more productive, safe; we are getting more and more technological expertise. And our dealers are happy as they have better solution to offer to the market."

Speaking on competition, especially from multinationals with excellent track records, Sondhi says, "Fundamentally, our major focus is on what the customer wants. In today's context, the customer is very keen on quality, reliability and availability of parts. Our products, because of our experience of India- centric products, are designed for Indian conditions, robustness required, and Indian fuel quality; all coupled with the best dealer network in the country."

Sondhi sums with a smile: "We have the ability and the confidence to make sure that we supply the best product which are reliable, and also back it up with people who are as close to the customer as possible."