Government of India has given impetus in fast tracking various infrastructure projects, especially in road, railways, ports and airports sectors. There are also large irrigation projects under construction in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. Revival in affordable housing and other construction activities will increase the demand for cement and aggregate to make concrete. Special-purpose vehicles are being set up with funds from foreign countries for building large assets. Construction equipment (CE) market has grown by over 30 per cent in the last two years. However, going forward, we expect CE market to grow at 12-14 per cent CAGR over the next 4-5 years.

Key focus
As South Asia's largest exhibition for the construction equipment, Excon provides an excellent opportunity for us to showcase our latest technologies and new products. It also enables meeting of buyers and sellers and to understand the changing trends in the CE market. Excon is also the venue where the top management of the company gets to meet and greet valued customers and develop bonds that would help in enhancing customer satisfaction.

Showcasing innovations
Komatsu and L&T have been associated actively with Excon editions from the very beginning and are showcasing their products and technologies in the construction segment. Komatsu is the global leader in developing state-of-the-art construction equipment and introducing them to the Indian market, where customers are becoming highly demanding in terms of product performance, cost-effectiveness and in incorporating advanced features.

Komatsu continues to bring in new machines and technologies and will do so this time too. Komatsu's Motor Grader GD535 model will be on display for the first time in Excon and is equipped with Komatsu's patented machine tracking system called Komtrax. With the pace in road construction increasing under the current government, this machine is most suitable and ideal for the highway projects.

L&T has been truly promoting the Make in India activity. Towards meeting this objective, L&T has taken up manufacturing of the entire range of road building equipment at its advanced facility in Doddaballapur, located in the outer Bangalore. We have already rolled out L&T 1190 soil compactor, L&T 990HF tandem compactor and L&T 491 mini compactor as part of the series. At Excon 2017, we plan to launch ambitiously new products viz, L&T 2490 pneumatic tyred roller, skid steer roller and paver, which have been designed and developed by the R&D division of L&T. These machines are technologically advanced and built to meet tough operating conditions - heavy duty, reliable and economical.

Expectations
We expect the business to grow in keeping with the general sentiment and overall boost in the economic activity. We see an upward surge in equipment buying as well as in the rental market. With infrastructure projects picking up pace across the country in roads, ports and railways, we are confident that the machine offtake will improve significantly in the near future.