Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 2, 2019 declared April 2019-March 2020 as the Construction-Technology year and stressed on the use of advanced technology to meet the increasing demand of affordable housing and provision of Housing for All by 2022. He informed that over 13 million houses had already been built under the affordable housing scheme. He emphasised that his government had brought in an element of speed, while speaking at the India Today Conclave. Expeditious execution of housing, sanitation, electricity, optic fibre, and expeditious facilitation of finance has been the hallmark of the current governance, he reiterated.

The accomplishments of the current government are laudable, but the fact remains that the liquidity crunch in the aftermath of the IL&FS default has put a brake on the construction equipment market growth. According to reports, the CE market, which was growing at a rate of 20 per cent, has slowed down to a 10 per cent growth. Such instances create untoward pressure on the industry. The CE industry needs to bounce back, if the current year has to reflect the Year of Construction Technology.

The commercial vehicle segment in India showed strong growth in FY2018, which is continuing in the current fiscal as well, with a 31 per cent growth in the first eight months. According to ICRA, the growth was supported by pick-up in the construction sector with a strong demand for tipper trucks. Going forward, the trend will be moving from basic economy trucks towards higher tonnage and value products. The Cover Story elaborates on the tipper truck market scenario, new features and technologies, how truck OEMs are prepared to meet the new emission regulations, and more.

With port development in the country on fast track, it is imperative to improve handling capacities and modernising existing facilities. The port equipment manufacturers see opportunities as new port projects are coming up which will require cargo handling equipment in large numbers. The Feature describes more on the opportunities and challenges of the port equipment sector.

The crawler cranes market in India is experiencing a stagnant growth currently. While small and medium capacity cranes see some demand in the ongoing infrastructure development projects, large capacity crawler cranes see lower demand due to a slowdown in power sector, especially wind power. The rental market, which is the backbone of crawler crane industry, has slowed down with rental rates going down drastically. According to key rental players in the market, the situation will improve only if the government provides the necessary policy support and more big scale projects come up. The Focus explains more on the market realities in crawler cranes.