Our service engineers are well trained in all aspects of the equipment on hand and also on the processing side of the plant to help achieve optimum performance, says Ravi Thakur, Managing Director, Amarshiva. Excerpts from the interview.

How do you view the potential for crushers and screens in the aggregate sector?
With massive infrastructure con?struction activity underway, crushing and screening equipment is now deta?ched from being exclusively a mining sector domain to the core construction sector domain. The very need for millions of tonne of road base materials, concrete mixes and asphalt mixes has pitched the need of crushing and screening equip?ment into the forefront of the cons?truction equipment industry. The manu?facturers, both multinational and do??m?estic players of crushing and scree?ning equipment, have turned their entire focus on the aggregate industry. Stone crushing, which was hitherto looked down on as a low-end business, now prominently occupies the same status as that of the construction sector.

What is the demand-supply scenario like, in the aggregate sector?
The construction industry expected to churn out nearly 46 billion tonne of aggregate needed for the core cons?truction and infrastructure industry till 2013, for various projects such as roads, dams, ports, industrial corridors, etc. This translates to a requirement of over 26,500 CSE plants by 2017. The demand for aggregates and sand is steady; the surge and the dips in demand and the price are due to various reasons. Overall the demand will be positive and there will be consolidation in capacities from medium to big capacities.

Tell us about Amarshiva and its core strengths and competencies.
Since 1985, Amarshiva has been providing customers worldwide with the latest technology incorporated into every quality product of ours. Through the years, our product line has grown to include agglomerators, attrition scru?bbers, clarifiers, flotation machines, grin?ding mills, lime slaking systems, rotary dryers, and thickeners. Westpro has equi?p?ment installed throughout the world in areas such as Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Gua?yana, Mexico, Africa, Siberia, Canada, and the US. Amarshiva?s commitment to excellence has established it as a leader in the supply of quality machinery at the most reasonable prices available. Stream?lined production allows for prompt delivery times of six to eight weeks on most products.

What are the product lines offered by Amarshiva for the crushing sector?
Amarshiva began as a pioneer brand in the field of crushing equipments. Our l experienced, dedicated teams with well-equipped workshops, have made the Amarshiva jaw crusher a brand name in India. We manufacture jaw crushers, cone crushers, VSI, HIS, roller crushers and vibrating screens, and portable swiveling loaders.

How do you rate your success in terms of penetration and number of units installed in the country?
Amarshiva has executed so many major projects all over India. We are increasing our marketing potential year by year in terms of units installations and also value-wise. Last FY2011-12, we completed projects worth Rs 23 crore, and this financial year we are aiming for Rs 40 crore worth of projects.

Which are the major sectors your products are supplied to?
The major sectors are the stone crushing industry, iron ore, chemical industries, cement industries.

What are the latest trends in the sector?
Major demand is shifting towards higher capacity, from 200 to 250 MTPH. This range of crushing plants normally suits a road contractor. Indian quarry operators are increasingly looking at mo?bile crushers and screens to solve cha?llenges related to logistics and the set?ting up and dismantling of plants, and the trend is towards mobile crushers and screeners. Track-mounted crushing, scre?e?ning and conveying equipments are some of the latest innovations in this industry.

What are the products you have launched recently?
We have launched three new products in the last financial year, the sand crusher and classifiers, the biggest size of jaw crushers, and primary and secondary jaw crushers.

The end-user fraternity feedback was that noise and dust reduction features in the plants were not satisfactory. What is your take on this?
We are closely following the pollution control issues arising out of dust emission and all our equipment is designed and re?trofitted to control these kinds of po?llution effectively. Water sprinklers and dust hoods for dust suppression are in-built, and all our equipment has dust seals.

Brief us about the features to ensure energy/fuel efficiency.
It is about operation of equipment at full/ optimum capacities so that cost-per-tonne of production is minimum. All crushers are provided with soft starters and the latest electronic controls. For fuel efficiency in the secondary crushing chamber, we have developed a jaw crusher which produces 40 mm, 60TPH and 5 HP power; on this, we have developed the special toggle double flywheel so that it will be easy to operate using less energy.

How is Amarshiva geared to meet the fast changing service parameters which clients look forward to from OEMs?
Our service engineers are trained in all the equipment on hand, and also on the processing side of the plant to help to achieve optimum performance of our equipment and systems.

Are there any new products to be launched?
We are developing movable compa?tible plants conveyors. We are also deve?lo?ping material handling equipment.

Amarshiva Projects

? 200 TPH Projects at Rachur, Karnataka
? 150 TPH Projects at Tumkur, Karnataka
? 150 TPH Projects at Gulbarga, Karnataka
? 150 TPH Projects at Jadcherla, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
? 450 TPH Projects at Dharamaram, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh
? 200 TPH Projects at Allahabad, UP
? 150 TPH Projects at Kollam, Kerala
? 150 TPH Projects at Hosur, Tamil Nadu
? 300 TPH Projects at Raipur, Chattishgarh
? 150 TPH Projects at Chandhrapur, Nagpur, Maharashtra