A few months ago, the talk of the town was the acquisition of Putzmeister by Sany Heavy Industry, a move that was made amidst much secrecy. When the news broke, it came as a surprise to many, as the former company was one of the top German concrete pump manufacturers in the world, which had been doing exceptional business in India.

In an earlier editorial, we had even suggested the possibilities of the next biggest takeover in the same sector; this possibility has been realised at the Intermat at Paris where the news was officially given to the media that Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG) is buying major shares from the Scwhing Stetter Group, thereby adding to the core competitiveness and overall strength of XCMG and promoting its rapid development to build international brands. On the other hand, this move meant presenting the existing world leader in concrete pumps, Sany, with intense competition. Both the Indian subsidiaries have grown roots deep in the Indian market with very loyal customers, and the impact of the takeovers, which may be very visible in China, is yet to be seen in the Indian market. But one thing is crystal clear: that moves are generally held close to the chest, even in the age of information ?and that when the move is finally made, it does shake the existing order. Equipment India is now speculating on moves from companies like LiuGong, Zoomlion, and Sinotruck International and the like?.

Back home, to put it bluntly, the macro indicators, so to speak, do not seem to be very encouraging in the short term. The slowdown in mining activities and a general policy paralysis has to a certain extent pulled down growth prospects. Roads and highways is one huge growth enabler for the construction equipment market; mining, bridges and dams and real estate sectors are also expected to boost the requirement of construction equipment. However, on the flip side of it, the weakening of the Rupee vs Yen/$ has been to the extent of over ten per cent in the last one year, one of the major constituent of cost hike. The input cost has certainly gone up, putting further pressure on profit margins. In the recent Budget, the increase of excise duty has also had its spiralling effect on the end cost to customers. The manufacturers are under severe cost pressures as most of them have imports of major aggregates. Interestingly, many OEMs are trying their best not only to increase the operational efficiency, and major focus is also being given to greater indigenisation and resourcing.

In India, as per Off-Highway Research projections, crawler excavators will witness the highest growth rate among construction equipment and well may catch up with backhoe loaders, with annual sales of 40,000 units in 2016. A very significant point to note is the varying levels of technological sophistication in the excavators that are currently being promoted in India. The demand for lower technology machines is clearly on the decline, and all OEMs are looking to a better future in the Indian market.