Roads and highways sector is considered to be the most vibrant infrastructure segment where a lot of activities ongoing consistently for a long time. While other construction segments see ups and downs, the development of roads and highways has been happening in the country in a sustainable manner. Though the fiscal 2019-20 saw some dip in actions, towards the end of the year, things were picking up. But then the COVID 19 pandemic has slowed down the whole construction market in India, beginning 2020-21. While the country is going through the unlocking period after the almost standstill situation in April and May this year, the road equipment industry is looking at the road to recovery for the equipment market.

Road construction scenario
According to recent reports, in spite of the slowdown, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has surpassed its target for construction of national highways in the country till August 2020. During April to August this year, 3,181 km NH length was constructed against the target of 2,771 km for this period. Further, 3,300 km length of NH works have been awarded in this year till August, which is more than double of the 1,367 km during the same period last year. Sanctions were issued for construction of 2,983 km of NHs all over the country during this period. To widen and revamp 1.25-lakh km of roads, government has approved the launch of PMGSY Phase-III at an estimated cost of Rs 802.50 billion. The government set a target of constructing roads worth Rs 15 trillion over the next two years. In this scenario, how do road equipment players respond to the market realities?

According to Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director & CEO, Wirtgen India, there was a slowdown in awards and construction of road projects in the last one year as NHAI/MoRTH is trying different ways by which funding can be arranged for the growth of the highway sector, due to the tight financial situation with the government. The Ministry is looking at ways to monetise the existing operational highways through the Toll Operate Transfer (TOT) model and also to rework on the BOT model to make it more attractive. On the machinery sector, he feels, “There is a lot of uncertainty with regards to demand of machinery. As of now, we cannot be sure of the total impact and the timeline, before things come back to normal. Our estimate is that it would take at least 6-12 months before the situation returns to normal. So, we are having a relook at all our plans and doing the necessary adjustments to our business.”

Dimitrov Krishnan, Managing Director, Volvo CE India has a different perspective. According to him, the road construction industry has performed well in India for many years now and Q1 of fiscal 2020-21 is no exception. “Over the past two to three years, the road construction segment has contributed close to 60-70 per cent of all construction equipment demand in India. While there has been a negative impact of COVID-19 that is impacting all industries, sales of compactors and pavers at Volvo CE have been very resilient. This has especially been the case after the relaxation in lock-down measures with many road projects restarting.”

Puneet Vidyarthi, Brand Leader, CASE India is banking on the government announcements and initiatives to reinvigorate the sector and the economy. “The effect of these initiatives remains to be seen but we’re hopeful of a full recovery,” he adds.

The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) led by Hon’ble Minister Nitin Gadkari, has given a clear indication that there will be a renewed thrust on road construction. Vivek Hajela, General Manager - Construction Equipment Business, Larsen & Toubro observes the market vibes, “In the months of April and May 2020, sales were low due to nationwide lockdown. Since then month on month, the sales have improved. In fact, for the months of July and August 2020, sales of compactors have surpassed the corresponding months last year by around 15 per cent. This could also be due to pent-up demand. However, there are positive signals that normalcy is restoring in the road construction sector. The labour force at most sites are also returning to work and the speed of activity has picked up.”

COVID-19 resulted in an extremely challenging period, which nobody could have planned for. All infrastructure and construction projects had come to a standstill in the months of April and May due to the unforeseen lockdown. Consequently, says Jasmeet Singh, Associate Vice President – Corporate Communications and External Relations, JCB India, “this had an adverse impact on the demand for our products. With businesses slowly coming back to normal and infrastructure as well as road projects resuming, we are now seeing green shoots in the sector. While this year has been quite challenging, we are hopeful by the revival witnessed in the months of June, July and August.”

Usually, customer sentiment is seen going up during the second half of the year, which is considered to be a festive season in India. However, according to Singh, it is too early to predict conclusively. “The situation is changing every day and it is quite uncertain as everything depends on how the pandemic plays out. For instance, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, a few state governments have already started considering re-imposition of restrictions. If any part of the country goes under a lock down once again, it would have a cascading effect on the overall supply chain. Hence, it is important to see how the remaining year goes ahead. It is critical that the momentum remains intact.”

Ankur Tiwari, Senior Manager – Sales, Ammann India sees demand scenario of pavers and compactors subdued due to the complete lockdown in the first quarter (Q1) this year, compared to historical levels in April. “But the market recovered at a steady pace in the next two months in the quarter and we see green shoots of recovery as the pace of project awards accelerates,” he feels.

According to Rahul Joshi, Marketing and Product Head, Mahindra Construction Equipment, in 2019, India scored the highest length of roads constructed, both in highway and rural sector. “The Q1 this year started with the sudden nationwide lockdown which definitely impacted the demand in all sectors, so also road machinery. But you will find that as and when the lockdown is over and the market is opened up, the business is coming back to normal. We are very confident that the MoRTH will work towards beating the record of 2019 and also to cover the losses happening in the initial quarters of 2020. By end of the FY 21, we are sure the business will be close at par,” Joshi asserts in full confidence.

Sanjay Saxena, Senior Vice President & Head - Heavy Equipment Business Unit, Sany Heavy Industry India is positive on the MoRTH execution plans of a total of 22 green expressways comprising 7,500 km, at a cost of around Rs 3.10 trillion in the next few years. He observes, “Government is giving due importance and support towards road construction projects and we see this as an important step in the overall growth of our country. This will certainly increase the demand and sale of our equipment in the last two quarters of fiscal 2020-21.”

Concrete roads and bituminous or asphalt roads are the two major types of roads based on the materials used. Earlier concretisation of roads was picking up considerably due to the longer life of concrete roads compared to asphalt roads. But recently the trend is more towards asphalt roads for many reasons. Palagiri says, “In the current scenario, there is a slight shift from concrete roads to bituminous roads, so we expect demand for asphalt pavers to pick up in the coming years.”

According to Tiwari, there is a sharp decline in concrete roads since 2018 due to cost escalation per km compared to asphalt and not meeting the construction quality as per the government expectations. The demand for better quality on road construction has also been increasing with enhanced standards on defect liability for the asphalt roads that can be increased to 10 years from the present five years. However, he adds, “Irrespective of the type of roads constructed, Ammann Group is fully prepared to serve the needs of the industry. For concrete roads, we have within our portfolio of equipment concrete batching plants globally, and pavers, which are used for compacting DLC (Dry Lean Concrete) layer just below the PQC (Pavement Quality concrete) layer.”

Recycling is picking up in road construction, especially in rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, a lot of milling and recycling activities are taking place. Wirtgen being a major player in this field has introduced the cold milling and cold recycling and these two technologies are reasonably well accepted in the market. Palagiri says, “Soil stabilisation is also becoming very popular and all these technologies result in saving resources, faster construction and cost economical solutions. The Cement Treated Base or subbase (CTB or CTSB) not only reduces aggregate requirement, but also ensures stronger foundation and reduces layers. The cold recycling reuses 100 per cent of asphalt pavement material and only addition is bitumen 2-3 per cent which rehabilitates the asphalt pavement to its original properties.”

Diverse equipment to cater demand
The growing number of road construction projects is expected to boost the equipment demand in the country. With the government’s impetus on road building and infrastructure development, construction projects are getting resumed and sanctioned, all of which would require the use of construction equipment. Singh elaborates, “With the robust opportunities in the road sector, we feel that new and world-class technologies will certainly make their way in the industry. Customers today need innovative solutions to their requirements. At JCB, we have been innovating continuously to create smarter machines that efficiently fulfill this demand. Our vision is to ensure that our customers get technologically advanced and innovative ‘Made-in-India’ products, thereby also contributing to making India a global manufacturing hub.”

According to Palagiri, the demand for road building equipment will emanate from big ticket EPC road projects such as Bharat Mala, the Amritsar-Jamnagar highway, the Ganga Expressway, the Samruddhi Project, etc, all of which are moving along at a good pace. With these projects, the Wirtgen Group continues to be very bullish in the long term prospects for the roads and highways sector. Palagiri adds, “We would continue to invest in our Pune plant and in our Direct Sales & Customer support network in India. We would also be introducing some more new technologies across our product brands of Wirtgen, Vogele, HAMM, and Kleemann to India, which would help to speed up the construction, improve the ride quality of the roads and also to reduce the time of construction.”

According to Hajela, the revival in demand of construction equipment will depend primarily on the pace of execution of the projects. He adds, “MoRTH is giving thrust to infrastructure segment. We have seen award of large-size road contracts even during the lockdown. NHAI is looking at awarding 8,000 km highway construction contracts in FY2020-21. We also hope that payments to contractors are released on time, otherwise execution will suffer. Contractors are still facing difficult liquidity and cashflow situation. Further, stimulus package from Government of India (GoI) will support revival of the economy in general. We can expect the demand to pick up from October 2020 onwards. The demand will go up once the execution picks up. L&T Construction Machinery has geared up for increasing the production to meet the market demand.”

Krishnan feels, “With the government’s investment in national highway projects as well as in smaller state highway and road projects, we are seeing a recovery in the road construction sector. This rebound in the sector brings a strong opportunity for capable road equipment like compactors and pavers that can handle tough conditions and are productive enough to meet tight government deadlines.”

Volvo CE offers a wide range of compactors, pavers and excavators that are popular in India for road and highway project applications. Some of these products include the P6820C and P7820B pavers, the SD110 compactor, and the EC200D, EC210D and EC300D excavators. “We expect strong interest in these products in the coming months. We will capitalise on this interest for these products by ramping up our customer outreach and expanding our dealer support for the road construction industry,” adds Krishnan.

About the innovative products, he explains, “One of our latest innovations that will benefit the roads and highways sector is the launch of the first electric compact excavator – the Volvo ECR25 Electric. This product replaces a combustion engine with 48-V lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor that powers the hydraulics to move the machine and attachments. The batteries store enough energy to power the machine for 8 hours in typical applications, such as utility work. This machine builds on our technologies from concept machines like the EX02 as well as conventionally powered machines like the ECR25D.”

CASE India offers an entire range of road equipment especially designed for rural roads. For asphalt application, the company offers 752EX vibratory tandem compactor and 450DX mini tandem compactor. In soil compactors, CASE has 1107EX available in three variants - Standard, Drum Drive and Pad Foot Drum. Additionally, the 110 EX-D soil compactor is specially used for mining application and is available in two variants - Drum Drive and Pad Foot Drum. All compactors are equipped with compaction meter, where operator can check on screen the amplitude, frequency and ICV (intelligence compaction value), which is related to density of soil compacted.

“All our products are equipped with advanced features and are especially designed to take on any challenges in the Indian terrain,” says Vidyarthi.

JCB offers technologically advanced innovative Made-in-India products for the roads sector. For instance, explains Singh, “the design of the JCB’s vibratory system with a single-piece eccentric shaft and overturning weights is well proven on our compactors. It delivers excellent compaction performance for all applications. While this design offers high level of performance, it also keeps it simple to operate through two amplitude settings to select from, based on the application. This vibration system also keeps the design architecture simple for long life and ease of service.”

He further adds, “With opportunities in both urban and rural regions, we are geared to provide the best equipment solutions to our customers. Through this indigenous manufacturing of globally competitive products, we are also ensuring our support to the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.”

Tiwari sees the change in policy of land acquisition has been driving the momentum of project execution in roads. “The alacrity with which the Government of India has been awarding projects with over 90 per cent of land acquisition prior to award is a paradigm shift we have seen in the sector compared to the past approach of awarding contracts with only approximately 50 per cent of land acquisition.” This will foster accelerated demand for all types of road construction equipment including pavers, compactors and plants as customers deal with aggressive project completion schedules, according to Tiwari. He adds, “Testimony to our senior management commitment and vision for infrastructure building in India, the Ammann Group has continued to make investments in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, spare parts distribution, customer proximity and training. We are well positioned to serve the demands of our customers and the industry with our world leading technology, spare parts, services and training.”

Sany offers a range of motor graders for roads and highways applications. Saxena elaborates, “Motor graders are the most important equipment in highway and road construction with their usage ranging from leveling, material removal and maintenance of roads. With new highway projects in the pipeline, the market is quite upbeat and we surely see a surge in demand for our products.” With the increasing number of new road projects, contractors are looking for high productivity and fuel-efficient machine. The demand for higher HP and higher weight machines is increasing as compared to smaller ones, according to Saxena.

Sany is offering its higher capacity 17-ton, 170 hp motor graders for construction of highways and roads, while the company’s 200-hp machine SAG 200 is being used for both infrastructure projects and in mining. “Both the machines are designed for quality output delivered through their superior blade down force and drawbar pull,” Saxena adds.

Digitalisation in road equipment
Road construction equipment is one of the most advanced ranges of construction equipment working in the country. Digitalisation in road equipment has picked up in the past few years. In the new pandemic situation, demand for digital features is growing further. According to Krishnan, COVID-19 has caused a digital transformation in many industries and the road construction industry is no exception. “Our customers are faced with a crunch in manpower and a need for more productive ways to carry out their activities. With the new normal working conditions, we believe that businesses will demand technologies that improve their efficiency and reduce their reliance on manpower,” he adds.

On the digital technologies from the company, he says, “An example of a digital technology that we foresee renewed interest in is Volvo’s CareTrack telematics system. This system gives equipment owners access to a wide range of machine monitoring information that can help improve the productivity and uptime of their machines. The system generates a wide range of reports with data on fuel consumption, operational hours, geographical location and more. These reports are available via a web portal or can be received via SMS or email alerts.” According to Palagiri, with increased demand for better quality of roads, more and more digitalisation has to be brought into work for benefits like higher productivity, controlled costs, perfect predictability, efficiency, quality, safety etc from a range of new control technologies and digitalisation. In addition, this helps to keep the projects on track and complete them in time with higher quality.

“However, now things are changing as equipment manufacturers are offering advanced functionalities such as GPS, data collection, condition monitoring, secure remote maintenance, connectivity options and much more. Programs like Value Engineering from MoRTH have already paved the road for adoption of new technologies,” he says.

While the adoption of digital technologies is growing on one side, challenges are also appearing proportionally. Palagiri elaborates, “The main challenge in adopting IoT is the conservative mindset of the user industry. These technologies come with a little higher cost but in long term, they can be much more beneficial providing a varying range of data, improved worker safety, real-time reporting, continuous improvement, remote operation, keeping track of equipment, supplies and levels, equipment servicing and repair, remote monitoring of usage, precise construction management, and power and fuel savings. Another challenge in adoption of digital technologies is non-availability of skilled manpower.”

According to Vidyarthi, currently, digitalisation is bringing the fourth industrial revolution aka Industry 4.0 in the country. It is combining traditional manufacturing with digital tools to allow collaboration in real time. “According to a McKinsey report, by harnessing tools like IoT, AI and automation, processes will help in 30-50 per cent reduction in machine downtime; 15-30 per cent improvement in labour productivity; 10-30 per cent increase in throughput; and 10-20 per cent decrease in the cost of quality. These technologies will also enable us to decrease dependency on labour and create smart and intuitive products for the future with higher efficiency, productivity and low downtime.”

Globally, CASE has introduced a lot of product concepts which are loaded with advanced technological features like Project TETRA and the autonomous tractor concept which is completely driverless remotely controlled equipment can increase a working day to a full 24 hours, thereby increasing productivity, according to Vidyarthi. He adds, “Recently, we also launched our SiteWatch platform with an all-new dashboard, more intuitive navigation and new overview section that highlights critical information without requiring the user to search extensively for the data. Additionally, our machines also come equipped with a multitude of smart features such as an Eagle Eye telematics system which helps in monitoring the performance, security and efficiency of the machine in real-time.”

JCB’s IntelliCompaction system measures relative compaction density which is continuously displayed to the operator using a colour LCD screen. This helps the operator to avoid both excessive and lower than required compaction level with predetermined set value as reference. This helps to save time and money by avoiding repeated compaction. “Increased mechanisation and the need for ongoing quality assurance would be key drivers to adapt to next level GPS positioning-enabled real-time compaction density measurement systems,” says Singh.

JCB India has pioneered the integration of digital technology in its range of machines through advanced Telematics called ‘LiveLink’. This helps in the remote monitoring and fleet management on the key parameters of service, operations and security of equipment.

It enables better site management and equipment utilisation, thereby improving the efficiency and cost-saving of the operations. Geo-fencing and Time-fencing have enhanced the security for these machines. “LiveLink is further integrated with JCB’s new ‘Intelli’ series of construction equipment. With this, the work done by the machine can be assessed in real time. This has improved productivity, reliability and efficiency of our machines to ultimately benefit our customers,” Singh adds.

When the construction activities are on fast track, new technologies that improve efficiency and productivity will be necessary. Tiwari says, “As the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is pushing up the pace of road construction, digital technologies like GPS and digital documentation of the road construction progress will definitely be the demand in near future. Travel constraints anticipated even in the post COVID-19 period will enhance demands for digital technologies to monitor equipment usage and key operational and equipment condition parameters. Many of these features are already available as options in the AMMANN range compactors and pavers.”

Saxena adds, “We have already developed our EVI app and we are in the process of implementing it in our road equipment. This will help the contractors and OEM to monitor the machine when it is operational and helps us to act accordingly.”

Rural impetus
The government plans to revamp 1.25-lakh km of rural roads under the PMGSY Phase-III is expected to be a major demand driver for road equipment. According to Singh, rural India is especially set to emerge as a strong growth driver in the coming years. “With the recent push by the government through schemes such as MNREGA and better connectivity due to PMGSY projects, we are hopeful of strong opportunities in the rural sector. These would open up opportunities for allied industries like raw material, quarrying, equipment manufacturing etc, and would also create jobs and livelihoods.”

He further adds, “With rural infra set to grow, creating more opportunities for smart, efficient and operator-friendly road equipment, we feel this would result in increasing the demand for road construction equipment.”

Vidyarthi comments on the demand from rural roads, “We are elated to see such steps being taken by the government. The PMGSY is one of the biggest road sector projects and the Phase-III of PMGSY will aim at consolidating 1.25 lakh km connecting major rural habitations, village agricultural markets and higher secondary schools with a probable total of Rs 802.50 billion for the period 2019-20 to 2024-25. The project will provide a lot of employment opportunities in the construction industry as well as facilitate extensive use of construction equipment. We are ready to be a part of this opportunity.”

Mahindra Construction Equipment is looking very positive at the rural road projects with their motor graders having major applications in such projects. Joshi elaborates, “With PMGSY Phase-III, we have a big market for our graders as the Mahindra RoadMaster is a value for money package for small contractors and is an ideal machine for PMGSY sector. The machine is cost-effective and highly productive. Contractors need our machine to cover the 1.25 km revamp plan, and complete the project within the targeted time. There are ample opportunities for our grader in these projects.”

According to him, Mahindra RoadMaster has proven its optimum worth to its customers and this motor grader is very well accepted by all financiers and is within the range of all small and big contractors.

Border road push
India is a vast country and there is significant scope into creating more roads in the country including at our borders. Progress is possible only if we have world-class road connectivity to these areas. With the focus on creating infrastructure strategically, opportunities will arise in future.

According to Palagiri, border roads is an area where projects are lined up, and now their execution may improve as the roles of border roads and MoRTH are better defined, and border roads gets more independence to execute projects independently.

L&T is also experiencing some demand push from border road projects as the company has supplied earthmoving equipment to Border Roads Organization and has supported the machines in the remote areas of Ladakh. Hajela adds, “The construction of border roads is being given high priority by the GoI. Most of the construction equipment supplied are for high altitude projects and strategic roads, which are accorded high importance by L&T. The machines are supplied with cold start kits and anti-freeze coolants to be able to operate in cold temperatures.”

According to Singh, many of the border road sites are in extremely difficult terrain. Therefore, it requires the best of the technology and world-class product support for these projects to be completed on time. He adds, “JCB products are already being used by customers in these far flung areas. They are being supported through our large network of dealerships and service engineers. JCB has invested heavily in the past four decades into creating a world-class product support network in India. Customers will never be far from professional product support. Thus, we are very hopeful that building roads in the border areas is not only important for improved connectivity, but will also give an impetus to our industry.”

Post-COVID challenges
Road construction activities have gained some pace in the past couple of months after the relaxation of lockdown across the country. MoRTH has announced and sanctioned more projects this year compared to last year. However, as the pandemic situation is still active in the country, a complete turnaround of the construction activities still require some time. Krishnan feels, “The main challenge that we expect the road equipment market to face is an uncertain economic and regulatory landscape. A return to normal sales and utilisation will depend on the ability of migrant workers to return to construction sites and the economy returning to a more normal way of working in India.”

The pandemic affected every aspect of a business, be it manufacturing, supply chain, finance or sales. Vidyarthi elaborates, “Construction activities were halted due to the lockdown and the labour exodus. Supply chains were affected since all borders were sealed for transportation and sales took a dip due to the uncertainty of the situation. But businesses immediately took stock of the situation and drafted new processes and protocols incorporating the safety of their employees while maintaining efficiency. The government also announced initiatives to reinvigorate the sector and the economy as a whole. In the post-COVID scenario as well, these areas may face similar or entirely new challenges but businesses will have to be agile and adapt quickly to tackle any unforeseen circumstances and continue on the road to recovery.”

According to Hajela, there is a renewed push to award roads and highways contracts by various agencies under MoRTH as well as by state PWDs. Machine utilisation is also increasing as workmen are returning to work and execution pace picks up. However, local lockdowns continue to plague recovery.

“While Finance Ministry along with RBI has announced many measures to enhance credit flow, there continues to be risk averseness among financiers. Due to the continued slowdown experienced over FY20, many small contractors have defaulted on EMIs. Many also took moratorium announced by RBI. Such customers are finding it difficult to get finance. Payments to principal contractors continue to be worrisome, which further affects the demand for construction equipment such as compactors.”

Singh elaborates on the scenario, “The industry can get extremely challenged if multiple cities where our suppliers, dealers and customers are located go into a lockdown once again. Our supply chain is spread across India and any disruption in one part of the country can affect operations and have a cascading effect on manufacturing volumes.v This phase has also created liquidity-related challenges, both for buyers and manufacturers of goods and services. For liquidity-related challenges, transmission of loans needs to be strengthened further – NBFCs and banks should not become totally risk averse with regard to funding. Release of payments to infrastructure companies is positive, and will certainly help all stakeholders.”

It is widely acknowledged that the infrastructure industry and road construction in particular will be the engine of growth in the post-COVID scenario. Tiwari adds, “There will be competition as always and customers will make a thorough analysis of total cost competitiveness before making purchase decisions. We have delivered these compelling benefits to the customers in the past and will continue to enhance our offering in the future as well. Our Managing Director Anand Sundaresan has also recently issued a clarion call to all industry stakeholders and the equipment financing partners to shed the ongoing inhibitions and to move forward with building a new India.”

According to Saxena, after the COVID impact, the financial conditions have not been conducive. He adds on the scenario, “We are getting support from banks and NBFCs but it is not the same as before. Furthermore, duration of finalising an order has increased as customer is not as open and approachable as pre-COVID days. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been strictly adhering to all the safety protocols so traveling and visiting the customer onsite has become difficult. With railway services not being fully operational, we continue to face logistics issues like impeding the movements of our engineers and service personnel. Customers have always been our first priority and the post-COVID situation has not altered this fact. We continue to cater to their needs and requirements in the best possible way either on phone, email or site visit (if possible). With regards to government projects, there are many in the pipeline but it may take some time for them to progress.”

On a positive outlook
The road network in the country is one of the largest networks in the world, but the share of national highway network is too small. So there is a huge opportunity in the development of highways in the country in future. Palagiri explains, “India has the second largest road network globally with 5.8 million km which comprises national highway, state highway, urban and rural roads. National highway in India accounts for two per cent of the total road network and carries about 40 per cent of passenger traffic. The Indian government is encouraging Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model in the highway sector to increase the pace of road construction. The government is planning to increase the national highway network to 200,000 km by the year 2022. The government is also focusing to increase the road connectivity by increasing the length of national highway, expressway, economic corridors, industrial corridors, village roads (PMGSY) etc. The future trend indicates that the road construction will increase in India and new technologies will be required to fulfill this need.”

In spite of the current challenges, Krishnan is of the view, “With the government offering a $260 billion Coronavirus Rescue Package, we expect credit to open up which in turn could help the construction industry and equipment makers. At the same time, the current and proposed national and state-level highway and road projects could mean a return to normalcy in terms of workload. We are cautiously optimistic that Q4 of 2020 will be a return to a normal quarter in terms of demand for construction equipment in the road and highway industry.”

Vidyarthi sees positive growth in the coming time in the road construction sector due to various measures planned such as the MoRTH plan to invest Rs 15 trillion in the next two years on roads infra, the government’s investment plan of Rs 500 billion in the construction of highways for the economic zones for more connectivity, NHAI plans of building 30,000 km of roads in the next five years, and government’s plan to doubling of the roads and highways construction in the upcoming period.

On the trend Singh comments, “The focus of the government towards building infrastructure must continue as roads and highways is a leading growth driver for our industry.”

Considering the possible positive outlook in roads and highways sector, Mahindra is planning to introduce more road equipment in future as Joshi says, “Mahindra Construction Equipment is working towards introducing the full range of road machinery.”

In order to meet the future demand, Ammann India is gearing up as Tiwari explains, “The vision of our company is ‘Productivity Partnership for a Lifetime’. We see that the erstwhile narrative of equipment price has shifted to an overall total cost approach. Total cost of ownership is a vast topic and equipment price is but one element of this. Others being fuel consumption per km (compacted or paved), spare parts pricing, life of key components, equipment availability, reach, change intervals for consumables, life time of equipment, service response time, training, knowledge transfer and technology etc. We feel this will be the underlying theme of purchase decisions and investments in the coming time. The Ammann Group’s proposition to customers fires on these very cylinders and we will continue to deliver world-leading solutions to the industry and our customers.”

A major factor influencing the construction equipment market in 2021 will be the implementation of the BS-IV emission norms from April 1. Hajela elaborates, “The BS-IV norms for construction equipment vehicles will be in force from April 1, 2021 and the notification for suggestions from stakeholders has been published by MoRTH. While we are closely working with engine OEMs and trials are on, there is a process of validation to be followed with various testing agencies. These agencies will validate the engines, and agencies such as ARAI will surely extend help by expediting the validation. These BS-IV norms make the equipment more environment-friendly. This is a big technological upgrade, but will have a significant impact on cost of the equipment.” It is true that there are tremendous opportunities in roads and highways sector as a lot of big ticket projects are underway and many are planned. A stable economy and fund flow is necessary in the market for the smooth execution of projects thus mobilisation of road equipment is up to the mark which will drive the real demand of the equipment for these projects.

- SUDHEER VATHIYATH