Our range of backhoe loaders are equipped with the fuel efficient and reliable ecoMAX engine, in-house durable axles and transmissions, best- in- class hydraulic forces, all of which result in superior loader and excavator performance, long lasting structure, says Amit Gossain, Vice President Marketing & Business Development, JCB India. Excerpts from the interview.

What will be the predicted growth rate of backhoes and excavator in the future?
The backhoe loader has been India?s most popular construction and earthmoving machine for over 30 years now. What has led to its dominance in the Indian market is its super maneuverability and its ability to multi-task. Having entered India with a bang, this model of construction equipment is well established now, as compared to any other machine.The industry is now looking at using specialised machinery and attachments for completing time-bound and large projects.Hence there may be a slightly higher growth rate for tracked excavators compared to backhoe loaders. However, backhoes will continue to be extensively used in India.

Does this also indicate the growing preference from the end-user towards specific, application oriented machines?
application oriented machines are a necessity for the bigger projects like multi-level flyovers, power plants, dams, big mining sites, etc. Having said that, a backhoe is extensively used in all such projects with JCB specialised attachments. Customers also suggest more attachments for the backhoe. JCB has focused factories, focused manpower and focused initiatives at the dealership end that are targeted towards our heavy range of machinery that includes several models across tracked excavators, wheeled loaders and compaction equipment. These teams are focused on the particular need and requirement owners and potential owners of these machines.

There is a school of thought that points to a drift from the backhoe market towards the wheel loaders market, especially in the below -10T capacity. Would you agree?
Wheel loaders are used for specialised applications. However, backhoes are multi-functional machines and unique ones. The loader end is very useful but the majority of the applications are done with the excavator end. Hence it doesn?t seem feasible that the wheeled loader will be used in place of backhoe loaders at sites as both the loader end and excavator end are widely used.The backhoe loader is also an extremely efficient loading machine and its loader end is used for loading, dozing, grabbing and other applications.

What are the major value proposition from JCB in terms of fuel efficiency, performance, back-up service and availability of spares, etc?
One of the major reasons behind JCB backhoes being a success in the industry today is that JCB offers the best value proposition for its customers.The proposition cuts across the product and after sales back-up. JCB engine ecoMAX, that powers JCB?s range of backhoe loaders, is a world class fuel-efficient, 16-valve engine. JCB has set up world class dealerships that run over 430 outlets across India. In the event of a machine breakdown this ensures that JCB machines receive the earliest response from our well trained service technicians, by far the best quality and highest numbers in the industry. We have parts warehouses at Faridabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune that provide parts to the nearest dealerships.

What is the demand-supply scenario and how do you look at growth prospects?
The construction equipment industry has followed a certain pattern for the past 20 years and will continue to grow in the medium to long term.There might be certain periods of de-growth along the way, as has been the case in the past; however, the growth story remains absolutely intact. JCB?s Indian headquarters at Ballabgarh is the world?s largest backhoe manufacturing facility with a capacity to roll out a hundred world class backhoes per shift. We are geared to meet the rise in demand over the next few years.

Tell us the about the range offered by JCB, and unique features.
JCB offers India?s widest range of backhoe loaders to cover all applications and all kinds of terrain. JCB has 2DX, 3DX, 3DX Super, 3DX XTRA and 4DX in the backhoe loader range.All these machines are equipped with the fuel-efficient and reliable ecoMAX engine, in-house durable axles and transmissions, best-in-class hydraulic forces that result in superior loader and excavator performance, long-lasting structure and a big spacious cabin with easy access.Also, the 3DX Super, Xtra and 4DX are now available with new contemporary styling bonnet for great front end visibility and a state of the art cabin for greater operator comfort.JCB is the best at the top ten factors that customers look for when they buy construction machinery  best in fuel savings, best-in-class excavator forces and output, best after sales support network, best dozing and loading performance, best re-sale value, best operator comfort, best reliability and availability, widest range of backhoe loaders, one- year unlimited hours warranty, backhoes with non-turbo BSIII engines.

What about the attachments offered along with the backhoe?
Attachments add to a backhoe?s versatility. There a host of attachments that can be used to enable the machine to perform varied applications. JCB offers extremely  reliable attachments that can be used at the excavator end of the backhoe, like rock breakers, auger drills, ditch-cleaning buckets, plate compactors, taper ditching buckets, trenching buckets, etc. and the loader end of the backhoe, like the 6-in-1 bucket, sweeper collector, jib cranes, carriage mounted forks etc. These attachments aid in the machine being used across applications like solid waste management, river de-silting, material handling, etc.

In such a competitive scenario as the present, why a customer should buy from JCB?
Over 30 years ago, JCB entered the Indian market with what were soon to become industry changing machines - the backhoe loaders.Over the years, more than 150,000 happy customers have trusted the reliability and fuel efficiency of these machines.That?s what years of India- centric designing and continual improvement does to a product. JCB backhoes are powered by the state ?of-the-art, JCB Engine ecoMAX which is one of the big highlights of the product. This engine is the best BS III compliant and most fuel-efficient engine used in the construction equipment industry today. It was the first BS III engine for backhoes that was launched so successfully.


Over the years, over 150,000 happy customers have trusted the reliability and fuel efficiency of JCB machines.JCB?s Indian headquarters at Ballabgarh is the world?s largest backhoe manufacturing facility with a capacity to roll out 100 world class backhoes per shift.