The increasing complexity of construction and infrastructure projects will further increase the demand for specialised cranes with advanced capabilities, such as heavy lifting and precise positioning, he says. For instance, projects in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City drove demand for tower cranes and high-capacity crawler/mobile cranes to build and install tall structures.

The sort of infrastructure projects being executed in India today are demanding higher-capacity cranes, agrees Praveen Sharma, Managing Director, ABC Infra. For instance, he points out that a 1,200-t crawler crane was operated jointly with a 700-t model and several 100-t/80-t cranes to lift loads upwards of 1,150 t while setting up Pachpadra Oil Refinery in Rajasthan. Other refinery projects in Panipat and Paradip, petrochemical projects and steel plant projects are driving this demand.

Additionally, the growing number of suppliers and crane models, their affordability and favourable credit terms and delivery timelines offered by Chinese players are also helping to boost demand for high-capacity cranes, says Sharma. The Indian market is more spontaneous than other overseas markets; here, customers cant really wait very long before taking delivery of a crane.

Super tonnage cranes

Behind this increase in demand, as Lari explains, are renewable energy power projects aiming to create 500 GW capacity of non-fossil fuel-based electricity by 2030 and fast growth in the steel and cement sectors. With the Government encouraging Navratna companies to buy electricity from renewable sources to lower their carbon footprint, the wind energy sector especially is attracting many large companies and hence boosting demand for large cranes.