Digital technology will shape the next era of CE: Arvind K Garg, L&T
Interview with Arvind K Garg, Advisor to the Chairman & Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro
India is progressing towards the vision of Viksit Bharat, backed by sustained investment in infrastructure, mining and urban development. How do you see this translating into demand for construction and mining equipment, and what is L&T Construction & Mining Machinery’s focus at bauma Conexpo?
India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat is being supported by sustained investment in roads, railways, urban infrastructure, mining and other major development programmes. This is expected to keep demand for construction and mining equipment healthy, while also changing the nature of that demand.
Customers are increasingly looking beyond machine acquisition and focusing on productivity, fuel efficiency, uptime, operating cost and value over the complete lifecycle. At the same time, there is a clear shift towards technology-led solutions that can improve planning, execution and utilisation at the jobsite.
Against this backdrop, one of our key focus areas at bauma Conexpo will be Komatsu Smart Construction. It represents a shift from looking at machines individually to looking at the jobsite as an integrated, connected and data-driven operation.
Smart Construction brings together machine data, digital design information, 3D jobsite data and remote connectivity to provide greater visibility of work progress and help customers make faster, more informed decisions. Solutions such as Smart Construction Dashboard, 3D Machine Guidance and Smart Construction Remote can support functions such as jobsite visualisation, machine guidance, progress monitoring, design-data transfer and remote machine support.
The larger objective is to help customers improve accuracy, reduce rework, utilise machines and resources more effectively and bring greater predictability to project execution.
At bauma CONEXPO, our focus will therefore be on demonstrating how equipment and digital technology can work together to support the next generation of infrastructure development in India.
What key products and solutions will L&T Construction & Mining Machinery showcase at bauma Conexpo, and how does the recently added BOMAG portfolio strengthen your offering?
Our equipment display at bauma Conexpo will cover a wide range of construction and infrastructure applications.
From Komatsu, we will showcase the PC30, PC35, PC81, PC205 and PC225 hydraulic excavators, along with the D85 dozer. The range spans compact equipment for confined and urban applications through to machines suited for general construction, infrastructure development and heavier earthmoving.
The line-up will also include the L&T 1190D Soil Compactor, L&T 990HFi Tandem Compactor, L&T 9020 Wheel Loader and L&T 315R Skid Steer Loader, from Pai Machines Private Ltd, addressing applications in road building, compaction, material handling and general construction.
An important addition to our offering is the recent partnership with FAYAT Road Equipment Division India for BOMAG’s specialised road construction equipment. L&T will market and support BOMAG road milling machines, soil stabilisers and cement spreaders in India, including sales, after-sales support and supply of spares.
The BOMAG portfolio complements our existing road machinery range from Pai Machines and allows us to address a broader spectrum of road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance applications.
How are customer expectations changing in areas such as productivity, fuel efficiency, uptime, safety, ease of operation and Total Cost of Ownership, and how is this shaping your product strategy?
Customer expectations are becoming increasingly outcome-oriented. The decision is no longer based only on the initial cost of the machine or its rated performance; customers are looking at how consistently and economically the equipment performs over its entire working life.
This has brought greater focus on fuel consumption, reliability, maintenance requirements, operator comfort, safety and machine availability. Customers also expect equipment to be easier to operate and maintain, particularly as availability of skilled manpower becomes an important consideration at job sites.
Accordingly, our approach is centred on matching the right machine to the application, improving operating efficiency, enhancing durability and component life, simplifying maintenance and incorporating features that support safer and more comfortable operation.
The longevity of Komatsu equipment in demanding Indian mining conditions provides a strong example of lifecycle value. Several Komatsu mining machines supported by L&T have crossed 60,000 operating hours and continue to perform strongly in the field, reflecting their quality, reliability and durability. Among them, a few Komatsu PC2000s have crossed 65,000 operating hours, while some HD785-7 dump trucks have recorded more than 71,000 operating hours and still continue to remain in service.
This performance is also supported through long-term Full Maintenance Contracts, a concept L&T adopted early in the mining segment. Such arrangements are designed to support machines through their operating life, maintain high availability and enable customers to derive maximum value from high-capital equipment.
The buying criterion is therefore steadily moving from acquisition price to Total Cost of Ownership — ultimately, what matters is the productive output, cost per unit of production and value the machine delivers over its complete lifecycle.
What role are digitalisation, automation, AI, telematics and predictive technologies playing in improving equipment performance, jobsite productivity and lifecycle value?
Digitalisation is changing the way equipment is managed and, equally importantly, the way it is supported. Machine data is enabling us to move progressively and decisively towards proactive, condition-based support, where potential issues can be identified and addressed before they lead to unplanned stoppages, thereby helping improve equipment uptime and overall productivity.
Komatsu’s telematics systems — KOMTRAX for Construction Equipment and KOMTRAX Plus for Mining Machines — enable remote monitoring of machine health, operating conditions and performance, while L&T’s DigiEye provides online visibility into the operating parameters and utilisation of L&T equipment. These insights help customers and our service teams optimise machine operation, track performance trends and plan timely interventions, supporting higher uptime, better utilisation and more effective equipment management.
A particularly important element of this proactive approach is KOWA, which uses periodic oil analysis and trend monitoring to assess the health of critical components. Changes detected through successive samples can provide early indications of abnormal wear or contamination, enabling corrective action to be planned before a component develops into a major failure. L&T has built considerable experience in this area; the business has already crossed the milestone of testing its 10,000th KOWA sample.
We have further integrated digital information into the service process through Swift Service 360. The platform automatically generates scheduled-maintenance tickets, assigns service engineers based on skill requirements, provides advance information on parts and consumables and can use KOMTRAX inputs to trigger service action when machine errors are detected. This improves response time and, more importantly, enables the service team to arrive better prepared for the intervention.
Together, DigiEye, KOMTRAX, KOWA, remote diagnostics and Swift Service 360 are helping transform aftermarket support into a more proactive and integrated service ecosystem. These capabilities enable earlier diagnosis, more effective maintenance planning, improved parts preparedness and reduced unplanned downtime, ultimately supporting higher machine availability throughout the equipment lifecycle. L&T’s broader service approach has long combined KOWA, preventive-maintenance clinics, long-term service arrangements and data-led diagnostics, with a continued focus on extending machine life and enhancing uptime.
How are you strengthening aftermarket support, service capabilities, parts availability and customer-centric initiatives to maximise equipment uptime and improve lifecycle economics?
Aftermarket support has always been a major differentiator for L&T, and our approach is to remain close to the customer throughout the life of the equipment. For construction equipment, where machines are often deployed across dispersed and time-critical projects, service responsiveness and parts availability can be as important as the machine itself.
We have built a nationwide support structure through our dealer network, field-service teams and Service Centres. These centres are equipped for specialised repairs and rebuilding of machines and major aggregates, while facilities such as Rebuilt Exchange help reduce downtime by making critical replacement aggregates available on an exchange basis.
Parts availability is another critical element. Our Central Warehouse at Nagpur operates on a hub-and-spoke model linked to dealers across the country, enabling genuine parts to be moved closer to customers and supporting faster deliveries even to remote locations. The focus is increasingly on ensuring that the right part is available at the right place and at the right time, because every hour of avoidable downtime has a direct impact on project economics.
We are also expanding preventive and lifecycle-support programmes for construction equipment. During FY2025–26, we crossed 1.10 lakh Machine Care Services for the construction equipment range. Going forward, we intend to increase the coverage of construction machines under annual and long-term maintenance arrangements so that maintenance becomes more structured and customers can achieve more predictable equipment performance and operating costs.
Equally important is capability building. Continuous training of service engineers, dealer personnel and operators ensures that increasingly sophisticated equipment is maintained and operated correctly. Ultimately, our objective is not simply to repair a machine when something goes wrong, but to keep it productive for as much of its working life as possible. This remains at the heart of our long-standing philosophy: “In Service Lies Success."
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