Hydrogen-Powered Revolution!

As the hydrogen-powered revolution gains momentum, India stands at the forefront of a cleaner and more sustainable automotive future.

Entering an era of transformation

Off-the-road tyre manufacturers and suppliers are facing brand-new difficulties as a result of technological advancements and evolving end-user needs that are pushing the market into uncharted terrain.

Crawlers race ahead

Rising demand is boosting the development of new crawler crane launches and features.

On The Roll

The OTR tyre market is forecasted to reach 15 million units by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 9.05 per cent in volume terms.

On the Move!

The market for mobile cranes is on the move driven by low-rise residential, commercial, and industrial building construction activity in urban areas.

S. Chandra of Liebherr: Crane equipment rental has good future

Subhajit Chandra, Divisional Head – Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India, speaks on how the market for medium and heavy-duty mobile cranes is progressing in India.

Craning Forward

Despite uncertainty, the overall market for mobile cranes is expected to grow between 10 to 15 per cent for the next two to three years.

Demand for pick n carry cranes has strong correlation with industrial growth

The India mobile crane market is anticipated to register annual growth rate of over 5 per cent during the forecast period 2020-2025. Unfortunately, Due to unexpected Covid-19 pandemic, we can expect some challenges in terms of upcoming projects in India.

Can Mobile Cranes Lift the Mood?

Mobile cranes in India have transformed into safer and productive with changing design and new features to meet the upcoming demands from the user market. In the current scenario, can these developments in mobile cranes lift the market sentiments?

Towering opportunities

Choosing a tower crane is increasingly about safety and productivity features, as customers seek to lift more with less power, upgrade to a higher capacity economically, and safely use multiple cranes at space-constrained project sites.

Mobilising Growth

Looking for new growth avenues

The growth of crawler cranes market is stagnant with lagging demand from heavy lift applications. However, the market is expected to bounce back with the demand for medium capacity lift applications from the upcoming infrastructure development projects.

Vertical Growth

Tower crane market is now on revival path, which was going through a lull period till recently. Going forward, a steady growth of real estate market could see a further momentum in tower cranes.

Customer benefit is our focus area

Liebherr is a major player in the crawler cranes market in India. Ghananeel Molankar, Divisional Head - Construction Machinery, Liebherr India, elaborates on the current market scenario in India and the products and services offered bythe company in India.

Winning the Heart With Productive Output

Visakhapatnam Port is one of the 13 major ports in India and is the only major port in Andhra Pradesh. It was built in 1930 and has three harbours - the outer harbour, the inner harbour and the fishing harbour.

FROM RECOVERY TO GROWTH

The construction market in India is the second largest in Asia-Pacific Countries (APAC) region and is expected to become the fastest growing market in the region by 2025.

Technology can grow in leaps and bounds

In the earthmoving equipment segment, we have a range of equipment - from wheel loaders to excavators, tunnelling excavators, bulldozers, and material handlers. Our wheel loaders are offered from 5 tonne payload and above capacity.

Product SHOWCASE

BAUMA CONEXPO INDIA 2016 was the right platform for the exhibitors to unveil their cutting-edge products, technologies and solutions. Many exhibitors launched their new technologies and products at the expo, while others showcased their industry leading solutions.

We are displaying our new model LTM 1250-5.1 crane

The current equipment industry scenario is quite different. During last bC India, the market was going through a crisis. The requirements were on decline and sale had dropped considerably. This year, the situation is much better.

Soaring SkyWARDS

IFFCO takes delivery of Liebherr LR 1400/2 crane

Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited (IFFCO) bought a Liebherr LR1400/2, 400 tonne capacity crawler crane for its Kalol unit.

Rajya Sabha passes GST Bill

Stepping closer to the concept of ?one nation, one tax?, Rajya Sabha passed the Goods & Services Tax (GST) Bill. The constitutional amendment will enable both the Centre and the states to simultaneously levy the GST, which will include all indirect taxes currently levied, including excise duties and service tax.

Liebherr head office moves to new location

Liebherr India?s head office has moved to a new location at Kesar Solitaire, off Palm Beach Marg, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. Liebherr India, which started its office in 2006 with very small staff strength, has grown in multiples and today employs over 180 people.

Bauma 2016 - the biggest trade show on earth

Bauma 2016 - the biggest trade show on earth - spread across over 608,503 sq m (1.5 lakh acres) exceeded expectations this year with a participation of 3,423 exhibitors from 58 countries and the presence of about 580,000 visitors from 200 countries.

Pick-n-Carry Hydra: Bestseller

As the Numero Uno bestselling lift and reach product, Hydra crane still continues to be the most demanding mobile crane category in India. Tyre-mounted articulated steering, hydraulic mobile pick-and-carry crane, colloquially termed ?Hydra?, was introduced in India

Large Miners Forward

While the global mining industry is on the decline, India is witnessing a reverse trend. Many international mining equipment manufacturers are showcasing their products at BAUMA 2016, Germany, in a big way, at a time when Coal India

Availability and utilisation achieved are key performance indicators for large mining equipment.

We have seen increase in enquires for large mining equipment segment in India in the last six months. Public Sector Units (PSUs) contribute to most of the increase in enquiry. From private miners, contractors or mine developer-operators (MDOs)

Heavy Lift Anablers

India has witnessed an influx of new software-assisted multiple application-specific boom configured heavy lifters. Despite the economic slowdown taking the wind out of the sail for the heavy lift cranes? suppliers

Towering the Demand Curve

What lifting capacity range of TCs will dominate the demand for free standing, external and internal climbing configurations? Say Malik ?The 5-6T capacity TCs will remain as the most dominate category.

A Healthy Outlook

Increasing investments and cargo traffic point to a healthy outlook for India?s ports sector. Cargo traffic, which was 976 million metric tonne (mmt) in 2012, is expected to reach 1,758 mmt by 2017.

Ports have to invest in modern equipment to stay competitive

Liebherr mobile harbour cranes set the benchmark in terms of annual deliveries, supplying as many cranes per year as no other manufacturer has ever delivered before. 2014 was a year of celebration for many reasons.

High Tonnage Cranes

Considering tyre-mounted cranes of above 300T capacity and crawler cranes of above 600T capacity as high tonnage cranes, there are still very few players in this segment, writes Ajay Kumar Somani.

Towering Tall

The real estate and power sectors will show a tremendous growth in the next 2-3 years. As per projections, the tower crane requirement will increase to 30-40 per cent in these two years. Current demand growth for tower cranes is mostly from realty sector.

Liebherr plans to launch the next model for Indian market

The major demand in India is for the real estate sector, so, 5-tonne capacity cranes are the main demand for this sector. The demand for higher capacity cranes can increase in future gradually but still the 5-tonne capacity crane may have a major demand for real estate sector.

Up & Moving

Piling Deep for Solid Growth

In a highly competitive market space hitherto rigged with challenge, the piling industry has responded positively by developing and launching advanced rigs. The piling technology with latest monitoring features could help increase productivity and reduce overall cost of a project.

Achieving Cost Efficiency

Cost efficiency is not only achieved through cleaner engines, but also through optimising the man-machine interface with a variety of machine control technologies, 'correcting' the usage patterns, and packaging solutions that take care of clients' business needs around project costs.

Liebherr LRB 155 Breaking Ground in India

Liebherr piling and drilling rig LRB 155 is helping Menard Asia in India for a design and build ground improvement project from Hindalco's Muri aluminium plant in Jharkhand. Menard, a global design and build ground improvement company having presence across the globe has bagged under the umbrella of Menard Asia in India .

Crawling Now, To Pick Up Soon?

Despite the muted demand due to lack of new projects in the power sector, the crawler cranes segment is expected to register good growth once the new projects are taken up after the general elections, writes Sudheer Vathiyath.India is a huge market for crawler cranes, especially higher capacity crawlers. This is mainly due to increasing demand in thermal power sector, nuclear power sector, steel plants, refinery expansions and wind power sector. However, the market has slowed down in the last tw

Safety is a major issue in crawlers segment

Ajay Kumar Somani, Director-Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India: We have redesigned our cranes drastically to increase its capacity without any change in basic machine. We have also come out with ?P? boom in 1,000T and 1,350T capacity cranes, new boom configuration like SL 10 in our 600T cranes.

Heavy Lift for IOCL Refinery

Allcargo successfully completed major heavy lifts for Indian Oil Corporation?s (IOCL) refinery at Paradip in Odisha.The projectHeavy lifts for IOCL refinery at Paradip, Odisha. One of critical job was to erect a 1,200 tonne vessel of 144 ft length and various other heavy lifts. The project mandate was to erect a 1,200T vessel of 144 ft in length and various other heavy lifts.

Stalled but Hopeful

In spite of the present slowdown and resultant sluggishness in the CE market, the long- term growth prospects are still intact; and experts view the huge infrastructure deficit as a major growth driver and prudent steps from the government can bring India back on the growth trajectory.

In search of a strong foundation

Absence of big ticket projects such as greenfield power and steel plant projects, crashed out rental rates and surplus of idling equipment, and the cash flow crisis - the overall scenario of the foundation equipment market from the micro point of view seems to be grim, even though from the macro point of view few metro projects seem to have given a bit of relief to the industry.

The Liebherr foundation equipment performs excellently

The Liebherr foundation equipment is known for their robust steel structure which delivers unmatched strength and quality. Features like PDE, PDR and LiDAT gives us an edge over the competition, says Ghananeel Molankar, Sales Manager, Liebherr India.

Upward and mobile

The requirement for higher capacity mobile cranes with advanced features is growing due to continuous change in heavy lift sizes, besides a growing customer preference for mobile cranes with better safety features and technology.

Liebherr cranes are designed and manufactured according the highest safety norms

It will be much sensible to ask for a crane functional test and load test certification from a reputed third-party inspector before import. This will restrict the number of junk cranes coming into India. Also, the project people should have very strict controls on quality, selection of suitable equipment and timely completion of the job, says Ajay Kumar Somani, Director, Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India.

We have standardised the LiDAT system in our crawler cranes

Based on state-of-the-art technology, LiDAT provides information on the location and operation of your machines, enabling their efficient management, optimal operation scheduling and remote supervision

Liebherr sells 14 flat-top 85 EC-B 5i cranes

bC India 2013 sees Liebherr selling a record number of flat-top cranes. During bC India 2013 that was held in February 2013 in Mumbai, representatives from two Indian companies signed contracts for the delivery of a total of 14 flat-top 85 EC-B 5i cranes.

Liebherr hands over 4th LR1300 crawler crane to Bhoir Group

The Liebherr stall held a grand handing over ceremony of the Bhoir Group's 4th unit of LR 1300 crawler crane. The handing over ceremony took place during bC India 2013 exhibition at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai.

Surging ahead

In the long term, we see high demand worldwide for mobile cranes, supported by the sectors of infrastructure, refineries, chemicals, and energy, with wind power playing a particularly important part. The Liebherr Mobile Crane Division is based in Ehingen, Germany, where it operates manufacturing facilities covering a built-over area of 220,000 sq m on a total surface of 840,000 sq m,

Used crane without any restriction on age is a big danger from safety points

The market looked good in 2010-11 and 2011-12, but since April 2012, it is in decline. Shortage of floating money, difficulties in getting term loans, a payment crisis in the market, shortage of coal supply for new power plants, reduction in tax advantage in windmill investments etc.

Integrated Solutions

Today in India, the mobile crane market is largely oriented towards and segmented on the straight boom concept. At the lower end, it is the popular pick and carry cranes built on a tractor base, and at the higher end, it is the truck-mounted heavy duty cranes.

Liebherr is open to feasible customised solutions...

When it comes to equipment selection, fuel and energy efficient parameters are con?si?dered to be the two major parameters that constitute the operating cost of a machine,

Waiting for the Rejig

The foundation has always been the starting point and the most important part of any project. The foundation industry in India though, is still struggling from lack of attention and want of new projects.

Liebherr Crane in Mumbai Airport Project

One of India?s largest civil engineering contractors, Larsen & Toubro, has been using a Liebherr 200 EC-H 10 Litronic tower crane to construct the new terminal building at Mumbai?s international airport.

Liebherr is investing in skilled personnel and adequate warehousing

Our prime focus is on R9100 which is a 100-tonne class excavator which we will launch here in 2012. For large mining excavators from 26-42 cu m, we will be waiting for a perfect opportunity to launch in India, says Koenig Holger, Director, Liebherr India. 1 - - 23450 14 162 2012-01-01 00:00:00.000 Equipment India We see huge potential for tower crane business We are not only improving the productivity efficiency and effectiveness of the tower crane domain, but also improving the safety aspect on a human angle," says Rajesh Sharma, Vice President, Marketing, Escorts, in an exclusive chat with Equipment India. Excerpts from the interview.

How do you look at the performance of the Indian construction equipment market in 2011?
Definitely, 2011 is a growth year if you compare it with the sales in 2010. In 2010, the industry size all put together was about Rs 16,500 crore and in 2011 it is about Rs 18,500 crore. In that way growth has happened. Now the growth will not be seen for all kinds of equipment. Equipment market is a derived market. It depends on the activity. If there is a particular kind of activity which suits particular kind of equipment then that equipment will sell more in that year. So I would say that the growth rate has been in the range of 10-25 per cent across the equipment spectrum.

How did Escorts perform in 2011?
Our fiscal is from October to September, during which, we have grown by 41 per cent. The growth has been across the product spectrum. If look at it all the num?bers have grown and growth has been achieved holistically. If take individually, compactors segment has remained stagnant and very limited growth has happened because road activity was slow. All the rem?aining segments have grown beautifully.

Could you describe the partnership with Linden Comansa?
This partnership is an year old now. Last year, we had signed exclusive distribution agreement with them for Indian market. They are the mentors for tower cranes and our strength of distribution and developing skills in the market matched quite well.

What made you to venture into tower cranes?
In terms of growth opportunity we see a huge potential for tower crane business both in the real estate segment as well as industrial infrastructure. Real estate inve?stment is $16 billion which we think will go up to $24 billion by 2015. And industrial infrastructure is largely on the power side. A lot of activity will happen on nuclear power plant and hydel plant and these kinds of cranes are required. The usual small cranes cannot do the job. So believing this and looking at what happened across the world we thought there was huge potential for this and is why we entered tower crane business.

We are partners with Linden Comansa because they are the most technologically innovative company around. There was a lot of gap between what is available in India and what the world was using. Currently, the use of tower cranes is much lower and much basic in terms of technology. Flat top is what the world is getting towards so this was the right product to get into.

You said this partnership is not just for business sake but for solution providing. Kindly explain.
As a responsible supplier who has been known to be a pioneer in some field or other, it is our responsibility that we always try to push technology datum enveloped in the industry towards upward. This is one step towards that direction. We are not only improving the productivity efficiency and effecti?veness of the tower crane domain, but also improving the safety aspect on a human angle.

What kind of business are you looking at in the coming years?
We have already taken sizeable chunk of high-end market in the very first year. But the numbers have been really low like the size of high end market is small. By 2015 we want to sell about 200 machines. Construction equipment industry in the last ten years has been doubling itself every fourth year. Even if you see 250 numbers doubling to 500-600 numbers and we are aspiring for 200 numbers is not out of sync.

What is the advantage of these cranes as far as investment is concerned?
It is a product which has a very long life of 30-35 years which is exceptional in the construction equipment, so you can amo?rtise your investment over a longer period of years. The kind of rental market for tower cranes hardly exists in the country. But, if other assets get about 4 per cent a month, this will get 6 per cent rental a month in the market. Return on investment for a small hirer who is buying this equip?ment also makes it an economic case.

What are your plans to take this initiative forward in the coming years?
As far as the Escorts-Komansa tie-up is concerned, we need to focus more on communicating the technological adva?ntage and translating the equipment advantage into real perfo?rmance. That will happen by training people. That is why I declared that from December onwards we will be having a new training vertical in our school in Bengaluru which will be focussing only on tower cranes. Other products are happening but the new verticals will be open for tower cranes where we will be training people for operation maintenance and the optimum utilisation of the asset which is very important. We have already sent people for training and they have been trained by them and these are the people who will train them further.

How important is trained manpower?
We have emphasis on training. It is not only done for leveraging the marketing but also helping the industry and the country. Every business runs on what you are doing for the customer. If you are distributing well and you are having trained manpower in the country you have done great service to the customer. Equipment hardware is very easy to make. These two aspects are very important.

How do you see the competition in tower cranes?
There are already 12 players for tower cranes. But most of them are competing for the lower segment of the market. To be a player of a high segment, you need technological depth which they do not have. They have seen a Chinese crane and they made it and are selling in India. That is not going to do much favour in the long term. In the long term you need technological depth and innovativeness in terms of creating a shift from product selling to solution selling. This is entirely about solution selling.

How is the rental market for these cranes?
Hiring segment in the country is very decentralised and fragmented. Only two companies of large size are operating in India but they are not very effective. We have large populous of customers who are buying one or two equipment and are working in the close proximity and locality. They are not pan-India players. So Indian hiring industries are not organised as what we see in Europe and the US. When you have such a scenario people tend to invest in those
assets which are not high in value. Tower crane hiring will take some time to come around.

The high initial cost and then it is giving returns for 30 years and they are not mobile equipment. So these small hiring companies may no tend to get into it immediately. But as the time comes it will increase more and more. They buy assets depending upon what is demanded by the market.

What are your plans for 2012 and beyond?
Last year we achieved about 40 per cent growth and this year we are aiming at bettering that. We are very hopeful that we will be able to do that. We have a lot of new products in our armour both on the manufacturing and training site and I am sure we will be able to do that.

Are you planning to venture into other equipment segments?
We have a lot of opportunity in the verticals what we operate in. In crane side we almost have everything. On road construction side we only have compaction equipment and now we have added motor graders. There are many more we can add in that segment. Similarly moving north side we have backhoe loader. There are many products where we are not there and we can get into that later.

Liebherrr at Ahmedabad Site

Ahmedabad-based contractor PSP Projects is using a Liebherr 71 EC-B 5 FR.tronic Flat-Top crane to build a 19-storey private hospital in Gujarat. Indian contractor PSP Projects has purchased a Liebherr 71 EC-B 5 FR.tronic flat-top crane for use in constructing a 19-storey private hospital in Ahmedabad,

Liebherr is moving towards fuel-efficient technology products

Liebherr offers a wide range of deep foundation machinery: rotary drilling rigs (LB), piling and drilling rigs (LRB), piling rigs with fixed and swinging leader (LRH), and duty cycle crawler cra?nes (HS).

Liebherr Erects Windmills

Two Liebherr LR1600/2 crawler cranes are being used by wind power specialist Vestas to erect four windmills at a site in the Kutch district of Gujarat.

Reaching High

Developer and contractor Nahalchand Laloochand (NL) has selected a Liebherr 71 EC-B 5 FR.tronic flat-top crane to build a 30-storey apartment complex in Mumbai.

Liebherr is committed to strengthening its presence in India

?Liebherr is investing in production facilities in all BRIC nations, permanently extending its sales and service network and investing in especially adapted products for these markets,? says Ajay Kumar Somani, Representative Director & Head - Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India.

Mobile Cranes: Towards Sustainable Growth

The growth potential for lifting, loading and handling solutions is huge and continuously increasing, as India propels itself for a sustainable nine per cent plus per annum economic growth.