We are enhancing our manufacturing efficiency and regularly visiting our customers to guage their needs. To this end, we have synergised all our R&D centres to adapt to the needs of the customers, says Rohit Punjabi, Assistant Director (Strategy Development & Marketing), LiuGong India. Excerpts from the interview.

What is the overall market for soil compactors, asphalt compactors and PTRs?
The size of the market for compactors is around 3,000 rollers a year. The market for compactors decreased by 5-8 per cent in 2012, during the last five years in fact, due to various reasons. However, looking at the planned investment in the road sector, we see enormous potential for compactors in the future.

Are the technology trends in compaction equipment at par with the global markets?
The road-building sector in India offers major growth opportunities for the construction equipment industry. High technology machines are designed to achieve optimum compaction to reduce overall operating costs. Also, the latest features are designed to improve operators` safety, comfort and maintain?ability. Advance technology has made the grading work simple by offering the option of automatic slope and elevation offsets. GPS navigation and machine guidance systems have reduced the amount of external surveying required. The advanced methods provide a better compacted road surface thereby leading a smoother ride, savings in fuel costs and maintenance costs.

What are the latest technology benefits incorporated in LiuGong's CLG 611H?
Basically, we have two major objectives. As the diesel fuel price is increasing every day, our focus is to increase fuel efficiency, thereby lowering operational costs. We have installed more fuel-efficient engines to achieve maximum efficiency. Secondly, based on customer feedback, we have improved the operator's comfort. We introduced some modifications to isolate the operators from vibrations.

To what extent do the varying mix and the grade of the asphalt binder determine the quality of compaction?
There are various factors like soil type, structural design, density, gradation, layer thickness which influence the overall compaction effort. LiuGong compactors are versatile in nature as they are conceptualised and developed after extensive market research.

Tell us about the range offered by LiuGong. Why should a customer opt for LiuGong's compactors?
The CLG614 caters to the soil compaction needs of the sector. These machines are built especially for Indian roads and are amongst the best at compaction. The CLG614 has a proven workhorse to compact the high volumes of soil to a very large degree of compaction with a minimum number of passes. It has best-in-class centrifugal force and is maintenance-friendly, with a comfortable operator station with an adjustable seat.

How do you view future growth prospects?
India's infrastructure has to a long way to go and the government is trying to move this agenda forward in a very positive manner. We anticipate a lot of growth in this sector; good roads not only connect people but also connect businesses and are vital for India's growth.