Graders for the future

Motor graders are having their moments under the sun. Infrastructure projects are pushing up demand for these machines.

We create value for our customers through make in India

LeeBoy India benefits from having a local manufacturing facility to effectively catering to the local and export markets.

LeeBoy India launches compact motor grader

LeeBoy India Construction Equipment has launched their new series compact motor graders for India and other overseas developing markets.

LeeBoy India launches compact motor grader

LeeBoy India Construction Equipment has launched their new series compact motor graders for India and other overseas developing markets.

Pioneering Growth

Traditionally known for aerospace, engineering and IT, Bengaluru is fast emerging as a construction equipment (CE) hub in India with major players expanding their base in the city.

A Variable Transmission System Has Multiple Benefits

The transmission system plays an important role in an equipment as the gearbox determines the performance and robustness of an equipment. The key components in a drive line of the construction equipment (CE) transmission system are front and rear axles with planetary gears, differential brakes, transmission shaft, clutch, and torque converters.

Making rapid strides

Motor graders have seen unprecedented growth in the past couple of years, which is expected to continue in the coming years as well with road projects continue to grow.

On Cloud 7, Moving to 9!

The Indian construction industry is excited to witness the on-ground acceleration action in projects for most infra sectors. Probably the only sector which is waiting in the wings is realty, where there are still no signs of any major revival.

The Earth Movers and Shakers

As a consequence of the excavation activity gaining momentum, earthmovers like front-end loaders, crawler dozers, traxcavators and other earthmoving equipment are registering a CAGR of 15-18 per cent. Since the Indian economy is reviving, these equipment are also finding emerging markets in other sectors as well.

Backhoe Loaders Get a Rural Boost

Gone were the days when the backhoe loader market was exploding in all facets of India?s infrastructure development. All recognised suppliers were registering negative to flat trajectory growth since FY 2011.

Exceeding Expectations

According to a report released by ICEMA, the current market size of the construction equipment including backhoe loader, concrete mixers excavator is around $2.8 billion. Further, the Indian construction equipment industry

Graded Up

If tightened completion time is demanded as in the case of Delhi peripheral ring road by Supreme Court, it will sure to up the demand for advanced, high capacity motor graders.

Fuelonomics Drive Developments

On new role

Amarnath Ramachandran has been appointed President of LeeBoy India Construction Equipment effective March 1, 2015.

New President at LeeBoy India

Amarnath Ramachandran has been appointed President of LeeBoy India Construction Equipment. ?As the LeeBoy Group looks at expanding its global reach and presence, the Indian sub-continent plays a critical role as a hub for the markets of Africa, Middle-east and Asia,? said Kelly Majeskie, President, LeeBoy Group.

Excavators to Dominate

Within the Indian construction equipment industry, the crawler excavator segment is the largest by value and the second largest, after backhoe loaders, in terms of number of units sold.

BHL Market to Grow

It?s a fact that the backhoe market has been reduced to one-third of the actual market size, and currently, supply is more compared to demand, and the industry is not very hopeful for a turnaround, especially in this financial year.

We need to adopt ISO standards for testing, safety, emission, etc

The major hurdles that will dent the ?Make in India? campaign are poor quality of finished goods due to lack of workmanship and technology deficit in designing quality equipment, says Amarnath Ramachandran, President - Designate, LeeBoy India.

Make in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched an ambitious campaign ?Make in India?, which aims to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub. The campaign projects India as an investment destination and develop, promote and market India as a leading manufacturing destination and as a hub for design and information.

Moving Ahead

The growth potential for earthmoving equipment in India has never been disputed. All sectors like power, roads, ports, etc. will drive demand. With increasing investment in the infrastructure sector, the earthmoving equipment industry foresees huge demand for CE in the coming years.

DesignED to Rule

Movers & shakers

Grading Up

Time-bound projects need reliable machines, and all equipment manufacturers are trying to innovate and adapt to the latest trends and are in the continuous process of improving productivity of the machine. Agith G Antony finds out product and technology trends in the motor grader segment.

A Fresh Lease of Life

Crushers and screens address the supply requirements of the core infrastructure raw material inputs. The de-growth in the mining sector and the prevailing slowdown in the road sector has had a negative impact on the crushers and screens equipment (CS&E) segment. Like in many other equipment segments, the original equipment manufacturers in CS&E also have been busy with upgradation of existing range and new launches. The recent lifting of the ban on iron ore mining by the Supreme Court is expecte

Excavators Ready to Ride the Slump

Within the Indian construction equipment industry, the crawler excavator segment is the largest by value and the second largest, after backhoe loaders, in terms of number of units sold. Now, the shrinking market and intense competition have forced OEMs to focus more on value additions. Concepts like low lifecycle cost, faster ROIs, lowest cost per tonne all have made it imperative for OEMs to innovate, both on the product design and service fronts. Agith G Antony takes a peek at the prevailing t

Our products have features that directly boost productivity to the customer.

The LeeBoy 523 is the result of intensive first-hand dialogue with customers and other stakeholders, to not only enhance productivity and operational efficiency, but also deliver a product that surpasses customer expectations. The findings from the customer dialogues enabled us to focus strongly on meeting three key expectations shared by the customer a reliable and rugged product, effective Post Sales Care (PSC) and lower running and maintenance costs. These have been kept in mind at all stages

Committed to excellence

The LeeBoy 699 backhoe is powered by the 99 hp Cummins engine which has proved its performance under very extreme duty cycles and tough environment conditions. LeeBoy India Construction Equipment Private Limited (LeeBoy India) recently unveiled the LeeBoy 699 Backhoe Loader for the road construction and excavation segments of the industry.

DIMO training centre

Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) has established a state-of-the-art construction machinery operator training facility in Suriyawewa with an investment of over Rs 200 million.

LeeBoy launches slew of new products

LeeBoy India Construction Equipment (LeeBoy India) recently unveiled a range of best-in-class crawler excavators, backhoe loaders and motor graders for the road construction and excavation segments of the industry.

LeeBoy launches products

LeeBoy India Construction Equipment unveiled a range of best-in-class crawler excavators, backhoe loaders and motor graders for the road construction and excavation segments of the industry.

Poised for Growth

The current market size for motor graders is around 600 units and is expected to reach 1000 units, provided the renewed focus on the road sector gets executed.

Our products and services positively enhance our customers productivity.

We have not rushed into the market but have invested time to listen to the voice of the customer, to evolve world-class pro?ducts and service offerings as a total package.

A comprehensive Post Sales Care is one of LeeBoy India's unique value propositions

LeeBoy India has invested in an exclusive training academy where the Operator- Technicians (OT) will undergo intensive training not just on operating the equipment com?petently

On the Verge of a Boom

A significant trend is the shift from post breakdown maintenance of machines to a preventive diagnostic to monitor the health of the machine. This is apparent in the replacement of mechanical displays by all electronic

Our 2020 vision is half-a-billion USD sales from India

?Our business model is very different by way of which we will be seen as a very different player altogether. We are bullish on that and we feel we are removing the pain points of our customers, too,? says Kamal Bali, Chief Executive & Managing Director, LeeBoy India.

Is the growth story sustainable?

It is crystal clear, to reach world-class levels, infrastructure needs a tremendous boost for the next several years; this will augur well for the CE sector where most of the major players continue to upgrade capacity and widen product lines.

LeeBoy to launch new equipment range

LeeBoy India Construction Equipment, the wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Techn?ologies Engineering (ST Engineering), is planning to introduce new range of equipment for the Indian market.

LeeBoy to introduce new equipment

LeeBoy India will introduce a slew of construction equipment in the Indian market as part of its horizon-1 offerings. These include, amo?ngst others, a 15-tonne motor grader, a 22-tonne crawler excavator, a backhoe loader and a range of asphalt and concrete batching plants.

India is a key market, and we are strongly committed to its growth

Based on our 10 year plan, by 2020 we hope to be able to secure about five per cent of the whole construction equipment market share in India which comes up to half a billion US dollars. That is our target and we hope that we can progressively move towards that. 1 - - 22720 14 102 2011-12-01 00:00:00.000 Agith G Antony Racing Ahead The Indian CE section, at present the fifth largest CE market in the world, is tipped to become the second largest CE market by 2015, and by value terms, to reach 15 billion by 2015, and a whooping 20 billion by 2020. The ongoing race to stand tall and deliver is slowly but steadily changing the rules of the game. Agith G Antony trains his gaze on the changing CE horizon.

Ask any of the global OEMs who have set up shop here long ago or in the last couple of years, or for that matter, eask any new entrant how they perceive the potential of the Indian market. Their response is invariably couched in cliches: 'India is a key market and if you are not in India, there is something amiss with your business strategy.' Truth to tell, that response reveals the track on which the growing CE industry is heading.

"India is a key market and we are strongly committed to its growth," says Sew Chee Jhuen, President, Singapore Technologies Kinetics, which has recently forayed into the Indian CE market with the launch of a motorgrader. "For the new plant, we are pumping in around $15-20 million. Our total investment planned for next few years is $35 million. We are not limiting ourselves to this alone; we plan to build another factory very soon in India," he further adds.

At a recent press meet, Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, JCB India stated, "We have no option as a country but to invest in infrastructure at all points in time." It is quite possible that the statement reflects what is in store for the construction equipment industry, and how OEMs are charting their business strategies to acquire a major share of the market.

The Prognos World Report, released way back in 1995, indicated that the classic industrial countries will only be contributing a third to worldwide growth by the year 2025, whereas, following the same timeline, the Indian economy was tipped to be a major catalyst stimulating international business growth. Today, India has emerged as one of the nations shaping world economy, a preferred investment destination and one of the world's most rapidly growing markets. Its national economy, its demographic structure and its high, sustained rate of growth has tagged India as the second most important market after China, coupled with the fact that contrary to China, domestic demand is already a strong development factor.

It's crystal clear: the role of India in the world economy has become so pivotal, certainly not because of the recent crisis, (though that must have accelerated matters, of course) but simply because of the huge potential India holds as a fast developing country. As per reports, the mid-term forecast for the next five years indicates that the gross domestic product in Europe and the US will grow at moderate annual rates while emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil are expected to maintain a much higher growth. The economic crisis, as well as the recovery after it, certainly had its impact in the global construction equipment market. For global OEMs with diversified enterprises, harsh impact in particular markets were largely offset by positive development in others. In fact, the total investment of many an OEM has gone up to considerably high levels again.

The dramatic shift in terms of sales of construction equipment from classic markets to BRIC nations is already evident as more global players are anchoring alongside the Indian shoreline. Over the last half decade, the number of global OEMs entering the Indian market has shot up; this includes major players from Japan, US, Germany, Korea, etc. On the other hand, domestic companies have also been either expanding their domestic capacities or diversifying their product portfolio. The result - with the emergence of new market players and expansion plans underway, the industry is expected to become more competitive and as a result, more fragmented.

Says DK Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, Srei BNP Paribas, "As per our estimates, the present organised equipment market for infrastructure and construction equipment (ICE) in India should be anything around Rs 24,000-28,000 crore ($4.7-5.5 billion). Thus, the construction equipment financing industry should be pegged at around 85 per cent of this figure. The growth of the ICE sector will be healthy. Our calculations tell us, when our GDP grows at 9 per cent annually, the annual growth rate of the ICE sector is at around 30 per cent. But in a worst case scenario, if the annual GDP growth rate even slows down to 6 per cent, the annual growth rate for ICE will be around 20 per cent. With such growth prospects, it is no wonder that global ICE majors are making a beeline to India and setting up shops here."

The construction equipment manufacturing industry estimates that CE demand will cross 100,000 units during 2014, whereas the contribution of the CE rental business, perceived to be another growth driver, is expected to double from the present seven to eight per cent of the size of the global industry to 16 per cent by 2015. Even though the industry spirit is currently dampened due to the volatility in oil and commodity prices and inflationary pressures, and to some extent, the alleged scams and corruption charges, the overall picture is quite positive and the sector is bound to see growth every year, propelled by government policies and support from the private sector.

As the rules of the game change, so do the trends. The increasing dominance of price-and-value focused customers, increasing awareness on the utility and versatility of specialised equipment, deeper engagement of global equipment manufacturers in India, increasing opportunities for exports and last, but not the least, the emission norms and greater emphasis on reducing the negative impact on environment, have been moulding the CE industry's trajectory onto a more responsible path as never before.

The emphasis today clearly is on creating capacity and backing it up with dealer networks and efficient service. As per sources , India will need an infusion of $1 trillion investment during the 12th Five Year Plan; there is no doubt though that the country has become one of the top priority markets for many global OEMs. A mere glance over the past five years' growth supports this fact.

As research inputs suggest, companies need to pursue four growth-enabling initiatives to expand the market. These include enhancing the quality, delivery and price of after sales services to increase share of service revenues from two per cent of total revenues to the global average of about eight per cent; addressing key gaps in financing to catalyse latent demand particularly in rural areas and small towns; expanding dealer and channel network coverage to address buyer fragmentation and quality, and proactively strengthening supplier capacities and capabilities.

The increasing competition from product imports from other low-cost countries that could potentially challenge the industry growth and the ever-increasing input costs have been a major challenge for the industry. To address these issues and achieve full potential in the market, OEMs have embarked on strategic initiatives: introducing India- specific products that includes low-priced multi-purpose equipment to attract new customers and to increase mechanisation in important areas; improving cost positions to better deal with the onslaught of competition from LCCs; and pioneering efforts to boost exports in areas like engineering and design services that leverage India's technical prowess.

Another perceptible shift is towards green procurement. Customers who rely on energy-efficient and environment-friendly machines will have an advantage over their competitors. The increasing fragmentation of the industry, with more players setting up production facilities for specialised machines, is an indicator of the industry going greener.

The Bharat Stage-IV norms are already in effect for automobiles and the BS-III is now in effect for most other segments except gensets; in all, it constitutes a major initiative to bring down the carbon footprint. One of the challenges faced by the manufacturers of diesel engines today is to develop products that will deliver higher performance, longer life, lower operating costs and at the same time, with less of an environmental impact. To comply with these standards, engine manufacturers have invested in the research and development of new, cutting-edge technologies aimed at taking diesel emissions levels to near zero. It's heartening to note that JCB has already launched the ecoMAX customised for Indian conditions and emission norms; Mahindra Navistar Engines will introduce a 4-cylinder engine to the Indian market for various genset and construction equipment; Cooper has moved up the value chain through a logical diversification in the engine and auto?motive manufacturing business and has launched a multipurpose, flexi-fuel, twin-cylinder engine, for which commercial production has already begun.

But on the flip side, the rising input costs and lack of a clear-cut road map for clean fuel are major deterrents. Another major challenge is to bring down the technology gap between the organised and unorganised segments. Ironically, while every other sector has been moving towards reducing emissions caused by engines, the genset industry has been largely inactive. There was even a move to extend the deadline for introducing the new norms for gensets. Thanks to the tireless efforts of some of the manufacturers, the deadline of 1 October 2013 stays effective and not only that, most of the manufacturers have already geared up for these new norms; some of them have already introduced their lower emission diesel engines into the market.

The point is, the unorganised sector neither has the resources nor the technology to develop such engines. Concerted efforts from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi and the Association of Diesel Engine Manufacturers Association (IDEMA) and unorganised segments , could dramatically reduce the technology gap, thereby reducing emissions from diesel engines. With this in place, we can look forward to a cleaner and greener industry.  
More importantly, more and more OEMs are charting different routes other than the classic ways of sales and service, to make it more holistic in terms of product offerings and relations with clients. Some leading OEMs have already started implementing the concept of MARC, though not to the fullest extent as it exists in the developed markets. Still, EI believes it's a good beginning.

A recently released report from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) forecasts that the world's manufacturing output growth will be slower this year, compared to the last year. As per the report, the developing countries have maintained high growth rates of manufacturing with production increasing by 11.1 per cent. For 2011, the MVA growth of industrialised countries is likely to be around 3.2 per cent, whereas that of developing countries is expected to grow by 8.4 per cent. Clearly, India and China are where the action is.

The role of India in the world economy has become so pivotal, certainly not because of the recent crisis, (though that must have accelerated matters, of course) but simply because of the huge potential India holds as a fast developing country.

It is not about classical sales and service, rather ours is a holistic engagement with the customer

LeeBoy India, headquartered in Bengaluru, is all set to manufacture and market a wide range of products in the construction equipment space, including motor graders, crawler excavators, backhoe loaders, concrete batching plants and asphalt pavers.

LeeBoy Forays into Indian CE Market

The 785i launched by LeeBoy recently is the first-ever motorgrader made in India to international standards. LeeBoy India Construction Equipment announced its foray into the Indian sub-continent with the launch of the first-ever motor grader,