Mining Equipment: Proman is targeting 40 per cent of topline growth
For most quarry owners, the challenge is to obtain the right quality of aggre?gates at the right price. This can be achieved only by having complete control on the equipment, the crushing process, after sales and spares. "At Proman, we have a unique alternative approach in the crushing field to provide such expertise to contractors and quarry owners," says R S Raghavan, Managing Director, Proman in an exclusive interview with Equipment India. Excerpts from the interview.

Has the ban on river sand given a boost to the crushing / washing equipment segment?
Proman has pioneered the production of manufactured sand in India. We have supplied plants producing manufactured sand from 20 TPH to 300 TPH supplied by us and working successfully at various inst?allations. Proman has the complete range of crushers, screening and washing equipm?ent to produce the best manufactured sand, be it concrete sand or plastered sand both dry or washed, meeting very high standards that can meet the international quality or Indian standard IS383 Zone-1, Zone-2 or Zone-3. In view of the above, Proman is already seeing a very big demand for its crushing systems and expertise to produce good quality manufactured sand.

What is the demand- supply scenario?
There are a lot of issues especially in the metros and big cities, variable land quarry and environmental reasons making a lot of existing aggregate quarries unviable or the government is asking them to shift further away from the city. We feel this is a big challenge and create a huge demand for aggregate and sand. Many builders and contractors have already realised this and are investing heavily to ensure their basic raw material like sand and aggregates are available, by way of investing in crushing plants or tying up with crusher operators.

The per capita consumption of aggr?eg?ate and sand in India is very low wh?en compared to advanced countries an?d even countries like Malaysia, Saudi Ara?bia, etc. India will have a steady demand for these materials. The growth will be stable and in double digits on an year-on-year basis.

What are the trends in these segments?
Proman has the right equipment to cater to the manufactured sand segment. The biggest markets as of today are in Maharashtra and Kerala where there are a lot of restrictions in the river sand mining. In 2011, we foresee other states will also impose restrictions on the rivers and mining due to environmental reasons and Proman is fully geared up to support this cause of environment protection by offe?ring crushing systems and solutions for pro?ducing manufactured and washed sand.

What is the potential from the mineral ore segment?
We see a lot of demand and growth in mining specifically in coal and iron ore. This is largely due to the demand in the power sector and also due to the privatisation of these mines. Proman is working on providing crushing and screening solutions to the iron ore and other metalliferous ores.

How is Proman placed to meet the surging demand?
Proman has been able to grow year after year, as we have spread our coverage to mining, aggregates, road infrastructure and exports. We are confident with the positive atmosphere we would be able to further grow at healthy levels.

What is your capex for the next fiscal?
Proman is expanding its manufacturing facility in 2011 and we are tied up with TESAB, one of the leaders in the mobile (wheel and tracked) crushing and scree?ning equipment, with their operations and factories in Ireland and Sweden. Proman and TESAB will jointly manu?facture some equipment in India to cater to the Indian markets and its neighbouring countries.

How is exports doing?
Proman has effected a reasonable amount of exports to the American markets through our associates. The recession in America has definitely affected these exports. However, Proman is steadily opening up in other South Asian and African markets.

What is the performance in the last two quarters and how does Proman look at ending this fiscal?
We at Proman have a reasonable amount of orders to execute for the next couple of months and we expect to increase our topline around 50 per cent compared to the previous year.

What sort of topline growth are you looking at in the next five years?
Proman is targeting a healthy growth of 30 to 40 per cent of topline growth while continuing to have a steady bottom line.