Hall: 3/Booth: B113
Excon is returning after a gap of two years. How has been the experience at the event?
We have been participating in Excon, since its sixth edition. Over these editions, we have gathered many a positive experience and have watched this exhibition, mirror the growth of the construction equipment industry in India. Excon gives us the chance of showcasing our solutions and latest offerings for the CE industry. It also giving us an opportunity to meet customers from different CE market segments under one roof. This interaction with a broad range of customers, result in both tangible and intangible benefits for us as well as our customers. Excon also provides us with the largest platform to interact with, OEM’s and end-users of CE equipment. Such interaction makes all of us more insightful to each other’s outlook, besides gaining a broader perspective of the market.

What are the key products on display during Excon? Explain in detail.
In keeping with our official tag line “We Engineer Dreams”, we will be showcasing our products under five themes, that we hope will offer our customers a broader view on the whole gamut of solutions we have to offer. These will be “We Engineer Dreams For…

How do you look at the market in India for your products?
We have a very positive outlook on the future of power transmissions products in general and our products in particular, for the Indian market. Indian construction, mining and material handling equipment are witnessing a multi decadal structural uptrend. Infrastructure requirements coupled with need for mechanisation and shift to specialised and more productive equipment, remain the key growth drivers for this uptrend. These growth drivers will generate a need for innovative power transmission solution that must meet specific local Indian requirements.

Challenge in such an environment remains in developing or adapting products and manufacturing capabilities that suit the specific demands of Indian market. Bonfiglioli with its local design centre and manufacturing facilities, being present for two decades in India and having gained a deeper understanding of the market is well placed to take advantage of these opportunities.

What are the various challenges faced in the sector you are in?
Even though we have witnessed a substantial growth in the Indian construction equipment, one of the key challenges faced by the sector is the cyclical nature of the demand. The government spending remains the key driver for the growth and thus the industry is dependent on state of government finances and its priorities at any given point of time. This makes the industry notoriously difficult to predict, which has implications for attracting fresh long-term investments in this sector.

A policy certainty in infrastructure sector could go a long way in removing stumbling blocks in its growth. This, along with government initiatives, encouraging local manufacturing of construction equipment and aggregates both for domestic use and exports, will provide the necessary boost to this sector.

Please share more information on the investment made in the Indian market in terms of the manufacturing facility, etc.
We have been present in India for over two decades, and during this period, we have made substantial investments in our Indian facilities. These investments are not restricted to the three manufacturing facilities we have in India, but also include a full-fledged India design centre, test labs and a network of sales and service set up across India. We have expanded our production facility in Chennai, enabling us to double our capacity for manufacturing of planetary drives. These drives find extensive use in earth moving, mining, material handling and host of other construction equipment. These investments in enhancing our capacity will help us meet the growing demands of our Indian and overseas customers.