The mood was upbeat at the 9th Annual Equipment India Awards, in spite of the ongoing slowdown in the industry, as the construction equipment industry stalwarts gathered at Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai on October 22, 2021 to celebrate their achievements. The event saw the top performers who beat the slowdown and emerged as winners in the respective award categories and been rewarded for their remarkable achievements.

Recognising top performers

Equipment India Awards, constituted in 2013 and now in its 9th edition, has been instrumental and one of its kinds of initiative in the construction equipment value chain in India in recognising and rewarding the deserving companies and personalities in the industry for their performances and valuable contributions to the industry. This year, the awards were given away in Bestseller product categories, and Person of the Year Award. In order to bring in more value and popularity for the awards across the construction equipment value chain, Equipment India introduced three new awards this year to recognise new and innovative products and technologies – Emerging Construction Equipment Company of the Year, Trainer of the Year and Best Innovation awards.

Selection process

The winners of the 9th Annual Equipment India Awards were selected through a transparent process by an eminent Jury Panel of 11 professionals from the industry and the Knowledge Partner Off-Highway Research. The winners of the Bestsellers in different equipment categories have been selected according to the findings of Off-Highway Research. While the winner of the Equipment India Person of the Year was chosen unanimously by the Jury Panel. For the new set of awards, nominations were received which were put in front of the Jury Panel. The winners were selected after an in-depth discussion and deliberation on the nominations at the Jury meet held on October 4, 2021.                                                                                  

The Jury Panel included:

Dr Deepak Hota, former Chairman and Managing Director, BEML; HS Mohan, CEO, Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council; Kennady V Kaippally, Country Manager, Bonfiglioli India; Neerav Parmar, Senior Vice President- Contracts and Procurement, Shapoorji Pallonji; Praveen Waychal, Senior Management Professional; Ratan Lal Kashyap, Sr. Vice President – Procurement, GR Infraprojects; Sameer Malhotra, Director and CEO, Shriram Automall India; Samir Bansal, General Manager India, Off-Highway Research; SP Rajan, Head – Plant & Machinery, L&T Construction; Sudhir Hoshing, Joint Managing Director, IRB Infrastructure; and TR Rao, Executive Vice President (Infrastructure), PNC Infratech

… and the winners are:

The 9th Annual Equipment India Awards 2021 recognised and rewarded nine winners in Bestseller product categories. The winners were Ammann India for Asphalt Finishers; JCB India for Wheeled Loaders and Backhoe Loaders; Case India for compactors; BEML for Crawler Dozers; Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery for Mini Excavators and Crawler Excavators; Action Construction Equipment for Mobile Cranes; and Doosan Bobcat India for Skid-Steer Loaders.

The winner of the newly-constituted awards of Emerging Construction Equipment Company of the Year and Trainer of the Year were Propel Industries and Schwing Stetter India, respectively. Best Innovation awards were given to Action Construction Equipment and Bonfiglioli India (2^nd Rank).

Arvind K Garg, Executive Vice President and Head - Construction & Mining Machinery Business and Industrial Machinery Business, Larsen & Toubro, was unanimously chosen by the Jury Panel for the Equipment India Person of the Year 2021 for his remarkable achievements over the years that have propelled both his organisation and the industry. The Jury conferred on the award, considering the company's growth under his able leadership in not only cranes, but also in other equipment categories, and also the overall performance of the company last year.

Felicitating the winners

The stage was all set to recognise and reward the winners. Welcoming the guests, winners and industry stakeholders present, Pratap Padode, Founder & President, FIRST Construction Council, gave a brief introduction on the legacy of Equipment India magazine and the newly introduced award categories. He said, “ICEMA—in its vision 2030 for the Indian construction equipment industry—has projected 250,000 to 260,000 units target annual volume, and $3 billion exports. This is like a music to the ears of construction equipment industry.”

Delivering the keynote address, Pradeep Singh, Ex IDFC and J&K advisor, Government, Private Sector, said, “The infrastructure industry is very much on the front burner of the government. It continues to receive enormous funding. By next year, India is poised to be third biggest construction market in the world.”

The awards instituted by Equipment India have played a significant role in ushering in an era of transparency and corporate governance. The Knowledge Partner and the eminent panel of Jury were instrumental in selection of the winners in a highly transparent way. The Jury members and the Knowledge Partner have been felicitated for their efforts.

Arvind K Garg received the Equipment India Person of the Year 2021 award from the past winners of the same award, including Anand Sundaresan, Managing Director, Ammann India; VG Sakthi Kumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India; Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery; and Deepak Garg, CEO, Sany India.

TABLE on 3^rd PAGE of the article

Category	Winner (Company Name)
Bestsellers category
Asphalt Finishers	Ammann India
Backhoe Loaders	JCB India
Compaction Equipment	CASE India
Crawler Dozers	BEML
Crawler Excavators	Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company
Mini Excavators	Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company
Mobile Cranes	Action Construction Equipment
Skid-Steer Loaders	Doosan Bobcat India
Wheeled Loaders	JCB India
Other categories
Equipment India Person of the Year 2021	Arvind K Garg of Larsen & Toubro
Innovation of the Year	Action Construction Equipment
2nd Rank – Innovation of the Year	Bonfiglioli India
Trainer of the Year	Schwing Stetter India
Emerging Construction Equipment Company of the Year	Propel Industries

SPONSORS ·         Presenting Partner: Apollo Tyres ·         Platinum Partner: Timken ·         Gold Partner: Larsen & Toubro ·         Silver Partner: Gulf Oil ·         Associate Partners: Action Construction Equipment, L&T Construction & Mining Machinery, JSW Steel and SANY India ·         Association Partner: Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers' Association ·         Knowledge Partner: Off-Highway Research

TIMKEN : Timken India started manufacturing bearings in India nearly three decades ago and today has state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Jamshedpur and Bharuch to serve local bearing market needs and beyond. Employing the highly-collaborative technical selling model for which Timken is known, the India team works directly with large OEM customers and with end users through a network of authorised distributors to make design and application recommendations to optimise performance and reliability. Timken is also the Platinum Partner for Equipment India Awards 2021. Speaking during the awards ceremony, Gurdeep Grewal, General Manager, Sales – Mobile Equipment, Timken, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to stand in front of the distinguished crowd, where some of the largest construction equipment manufacturers are there. Timken in 120-year old company built on a very strong foundation of core values. Just like our rich legacy, our bearings are known for its unmatched quality and unbeatable performance – be it heavy loads, critical applications or heavy duty. All the equipment runs smoothly and efficiently with our bearings. Our presence in the construction equipment industry is a decade old in India, and more in the global market. We keep on providing innovative and technological-driven solutions to our customers.”

Group Winners pic

(Top row, L-R): MV Rajasekhar, Director (Mining & Construction), BEML; Rohit Sood, Vice President and Head Retail Sales, JCB India; Anand Sundaresan, Managing Director, Ammann India; Arvind K Garg, Executive Vice President and Head - Construction and Mining Machinery Business and Industrial Machinery Business, Larsen & Toubro; VG Sakthi Kumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India; Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company; V Senthil Kumar, Managing Director, Propel Industries; S Baskar Babu, Vice President (Training and Corporate Communications), Schwing Stetter India; and Chetan Gole, CEO, Forklifts Division, Action Construction Equipment.

(Bottom row, L-R): Navneet Sethi, Vice President and Head of Pune operations, JCB India; Hyunsoo (HS) Kim, Managing Director and CEO, India/SAARC Region Head, Doosan Bobcat India; Santosh Godi, Vice President, India Design Centre, Bonfiglioli India; Pratap Padode, Founder and President, First Construction Council; Pradeep Singh, Ex IDFC and J&K advisor, Government, Private Sector; Binwant Singh Puri, Brand and Marketing Communication Head, CNH Industrial India; Rahul Shorey, National Head – Construction, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery; and Prasad Dange, Regional Manager - West, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery.

Pratap Padode, Founder & President, FIRST Construction Council, addressing the august gathering.

Video message from Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation.

Pradeep Singh, Ex IDFC & J&K advisor, Government, Private Sector, giving his keynote address.

Jury Members

Eminent Jury Members from L-R: SP Rajan, Head – Plant & Machinery, L&T Construction; Sameer Malhotra, Director & CEO, Shriram Automall India; Pratap Padode, Founder & President, FIRST Construction Council; Pradeep Singh, Ex IDFC & J&K advisor, Government, Private Sector; Praveen Waychal, Senior Management Professional; and Neerav Parmar, Senior Vice President- Contracts and Procurement, Shapoorji Pallonji.

Gurdeep Grewal (General Manager, Sales – Mobile Equipment), Timken.

Past winners of Equipment India Person of the Year being felicitated: From R-L: Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company; Anand Sundaresan, Managing Director, Ammann India; VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India; along with Pratap Padode (extreme left) and Pradeep Singh.

Deepak Garg, Managing Director, Sany India, felicitated during the awards ceremony. He is also one of the past winners of Equipment India Person of the Year.