The Fifth Annual Equipment India Conference 2013 focussed on innovative equipment and solutions and how OEMs are becoming more innovative due to changing user pattern of machines.

The Fifth Equipment India Conference 2013 was held on February 7, 2013 coinciding with the bC India 2013, in Mumbai. The theme of the conference was 'Innovation through inspiration for better penetration'.

Welcoming the audience, Pratap Vijay Padode, Editor-In-Chief, Equipment India, offered an overview on the construction and infrastructure industry and stressed the need for more projects like the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor that could give great impetus to growth. Giving the example of the Delhi Metro project's timely execution, Pratap said, "I hope that the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure will play a similar role that can ensure there is no derailment on the original plan, and where we can get performance in time." He also stressed the need to create more projects in the pipeline, the importance of fast-tracking the delayed projects and also executing projects which have already achieved financial closure that could sustain the growth momentum for a minimum of two years.

Pratap said, "While on the one hand, India presents a huge opportunity for the construction equipment industry, on the other, there are unique challenges in the building environment. Usage of the machines is quite different from that in developed countries, with machines working up to twice as much in India in a year. Indian customers are price-sensitive. Thus, a lot of new technology is being introduced in the Indian market. Machines manufactured in India are now world class and at par with those manufactured and sold in the international markets. This is spurred by innovations happening in Indian market that inspired by the user pattern. Backhoe loaders are the best example of user-based innovation and its versatility has been made possible with the help of attachments."

Delivering the keynote address, Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India, said, "In fact, India and China are the two major markets promising high growth potential for global companies. As the European and the US market is shrinking to a certain extent, the growth certainly lies in the Asian countries. We are witnessing an exciting phase, certainly, a more challenging phase." Nath added, "There is certainly a big requirement for infrastructure development in our country and I think this is going to take our economy forward, though there would be hiccups. The growth of 8 per cent GDP can only be attained if the infrastructure industry in India grows at least 2-3 per cent above the GDP, and along with that, the manufacturing industry also to grow at least at 3-4 per cent above the GDP." He also said, "If we track the growth of India from 1991 till now, I think it has always been in the range of 6-10 per cent, never like the huge growth of 20-30 per cent as has happened in China, and perhaps this is what gives stability for our market, which has a potential to sustain itself in spite of the ups and downs faced by the industry." Thomas L?ffler, CEO, bC Expo India, was the Guest of Honour at the inaugural session. Jaikumar Kamath, Head-Marketing, Case Construction, elaborated on innovation in grading and compaction. He said, "Case India is expanding its offering for the Indian construction industry with the introduction of the technologically advanced F Series wheel loaders as well as the new B Series motor graders, which complete our well-established vibratory compactors range. We are committed to using the best technology and manufacturing practices in order to deliver an increasingly broad offering of high quality products and reduce our customers' ownership and operating costs."

Gilberto Fereira, Product Specialist, Manitowoc, discussed on Manitowoc's remanufacturing programme enCORE. "MTW has developed a Centre of Excellence (COE) concept, and the team's primary focus is on supporting the remanufacturing work. By their long years of experience, the team will provide global support on their areas of expertise by providing technical support, field support and commercial support," he said.

V Venkat Ramana, Vice President, Puzzolana Fabricators, explained the machinery for manufacturing quality aggregates and manufactured sand. He highlighted Puzzolana's range of products and their advantages.

Vikas Kapur, AVP, Valvoline Cummins, in his presentation, elaborated on the changing requirements of lubricants and services in construction industry. "Lubricant costs can be as little as 1?2 per cent of the total cost. Quality of lubricants can help to reduce maintenance cost. Lubrication increases uptime and reduce total cost of ownership," he said. "In the wake of the rapidly changing industry environment, increasing customer expectations, and technology up gradation, lubricant companies need to partner with construction companies and OEMs; and focus on value added services, new generation and value added products," he added.

Ganesh Kamat, Technical Advisor, Ganaka Engineers Architect, focused on Green and Affordable Method for innovation in Construction, in his paper. He elaborated on Reinforced Concrete Block Masonry (RCB)/Reinforced Masonry/CMU, an advanced load-bearing technology developed in the US which saves 20 per cent in construction cost, is speedy, sturdy, simple, durable, and eco-friendly. VV Ramana, Business Head, Srei Equipment Finance, discussed the various aspects of the regulatory reforms in equipment finance. Saying that NBFCs and banks are differently regulated, he demanded for a level playing field for NBFCs as far as taxation is concerned. Ramana also said that there is no laid out recovery mechanism to facilitate recoveries by NBFCs. "Timely recovery of our dues will ensure timely payment of our liabilities including deposits," he added. Equipment finance is not in all that gloom as it contributes to over 90 per cent of the construction equipment sales he said.

KK Taparia, Managing Director, Universal Construction Equipment, in his paper, elaborated on the scope of Ready-Mixed Concrete (RMC) in India. "RMC is essential and required to achieve the infrastructure growth plan for the next Five Year Plan amounting to $1 trillion because it reduces supervision and labour cost, eliminate the problem of storage of material, reduces the problem of inspection, checking and testing, superior quality, reduces the wastage of material, and fluctuation of raw material cost."

Sushil Rajpurohit, Partner, Knowledgefaber, presented a paper on the Indian construction industry and the market for construction equipment. According to him, real estate accounts for 48 per cent of total construction opportunity in India. The real estate market is expected to grow by 11 per cent CAGR till 2015, mainly driven by residential construction. At the same time, investment in infrastructure projects is expected to more than double in the next Five Year Plan (2013-2017). "While the construction industry is expected to grow reasonably in the coming years, technologically it is much inferior to western countries, China etc, where usage of sophisticated machinery is very high," he said. Indian construction equipment market is one of the top ten key markets globally, and one of the highest growing markets. The paper also focused on the scope of cement sector and concrete equipment market. "Belief, commitment and patience are very important to succeed in the Indian market," Rajpurohit said in conclusion.