The 9th edition of Excon, India's premier and South Asia's largest construction equipment and construction technology trade fair, which will take place in Bengaluru during December 12-16, 2017, is expected to attract more than 1,000 exhibitors, including around 300 companies from abroad. The event is expected to attract over 40,000 business visitors. Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the mega business event will feature a five-day international exhibition to be held at 2,50,000 sq m of gross exhibition display area.

In a speech screened at the launch meet held in New Delhi, Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, Government of India, said that Excon has turned out to be an important event for the infrastructure development in India as it attracts the best technologies, the best companies, and the best ideas to the country from across the world. He said the government and public sector organisations, including the Indian Railways, are embarking on mega infrastructure projects and the participation of the top organisations in the private sector will ensure that the huge outlay of capex is spent in a manner that will add more value to the country.

The minister pointed out that the Railways is committed to investing Rs 8,50,000 crore in a five year span in infrastructure development projects like network decongestion, network expansion, national projects, safety, information technology & research, rolling stock, passenger amenities, high speed rail and elevated corridor, station redevelopment and logistic parks.

In his special address, Anirudh Jain, Additional Member (Works), Ministry of Railways, Railway Board, said that Indian Railways has prioritised projects so that the projects that are more beneficial and those that are nearing completion can be completed expeditiously. He said that the execution of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country, the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors, has been fast-tracked. It will be commissioned in phases by 2019.

Jain said that a large number of initiatives have been taken to bring remarkable increase in commissioning of new lines, gauge conversions and doublings. Indian Railway has commissioned over 2,800 km new tracks in 2017-18 and has set a target of 3,500 km for the current year. Indian Railways is encouraging state governments to participate in rail infrastructure development by forming joint ventures with the state government, he added.

He further said that the Railways has taken a large number of capacity enhancement works viz doubling/third line/fourth line projects have been sanctioned in last three years. These will add over 12,500 km additional lines to the network costing about Rs 130,000 crore. The government is presently executing 179 new line projects, 58 gauge conversion projects and 256 doubling projects at an anticipated cost of approximately Rs 5 lakh crore with a throw forward of about Rs 4 lakh crore, said Jain.

In his address, Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, CII Trade Fair Council and Chairman, Excon 2017, said that Excon 2017 is set to put India's construction equipment industry, which is expected to grow from $ 3 billion in 2016 to $ 5 billion by 2020 in value terms, on the global map.

In line with the growth of the industry, Excon has become one of the largest global events in the sector. He pointed out that the first edition of Excon, held in 2000, had a modest beginning with just about 80 exhibitors. However, the forthcoming event will have over 1,000 exhibitors, including over 300 from abroad. The exhibition will also have exclusive country pavilions for Germany, Italy, China, Finland, Sweden, South Korea, Sri Lanka , Turkey, UK and USA. The gross display area of the event would go from less than 50,000 sq m in 2000 to 2,50,000 sq m in 2017.

Sondhi said that Excon conferences will attract chief executives, top government officials, and experts and facilitate deliberations on building India's infrastructure in an ecologically sustainable manner, enabling smart cities, progress of Swachh Bharat, Make in India, enhancing skill development, urban and rural connectivity, and road building and accelerating infrastructure creation.

In his opening remarks, Virendra Gupta, Deputy Director General, CII said that India has made a significant progress in attracting private investments in the infrastructure sector. Over a decade (2002-12), private sector has invested approximately $ 250 billion in various infrastructure projects. He pointed out that CII's Infrastructure Division engages the Central and state governments; the industry and other stakeholders to work towards making Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as the cornerstone for building the state-of-the-art infrastructure in India.

Anand Sundaresan, President, Indian Construction Equipment Manufactures' Association (ICEMA) proposed vote of thanks. ICEMA is the Sector Partner and the Builders Association of India is a Supporting Partner for Excon 2017.