The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) EXCON 2017 – South Asia’s largest construction equipment exhibition witnessed the participation of large no of foreign CoS representing from over 20 countries at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), the venue of the 9th edition of EXCON 2017 scheduled from 12th to 16th Dec’17. Through this event, CII aimed to present India as a potential global outsourcing destination for construction equipment (CE), components and aggregates manufacturing. There has been tremendous backing from renowned international associations at EXCON like Germany Engineering Federation (VDMA),, Korea Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (KOCEMA), Confindustria Modena and UNACEA, Italy, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT, )Construction Equipment Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Turkey (IMDER), all of which saw EXCON as a very beneficial platform to exhibit and are very happy to see a lot of visitors in 2017. They were able to make good business here. It’s imp for every small Co. to have good contacts and be able to have good business partners. Few others were partners of CII since 2005. With EXCON, so many CoS find the right partner to do their business. It helped Italian CoS to not only sell their products in the Indian market but also finding the right business partner. The event also witnessed participation of a lot of new CoS outside the Italian pavilion also saw a lot of cooperation from the Indian CoS through EXCON. The Indian sector shows a very good trend for they especially when seen exports from Italy growing. In the areas of Bangalore and Pune specifically, the projects have a lot of contractors to visit here and they expect next year to be even more fruitful. EXCON has grown from India’s biggest to South Asia’s largest CE exhibition since its inception in 2000. It, now in its 9th edition, has received participation from over 925 exhibitors including 275 international CoS. The exhibition had dedicated country pavilions including leading economies like China, Germany, Italy, China, South Korea and UK.
The 9th International Construction Equipment & Construction Technology Trade Fair
Excon, India’s largest CE and machinery exhibition, a confluence of national & international CoS held between 12-16 Dec’17 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Like its highly successful previous editions, Excon’17 once again saw a strong representation by OEMs and component manufacturers, importers, world-renowned global CoS, and International associations. The event’s biggest attractions, as always, has been the new product launches and breakthrough technologies. Covering 260,000 sqm of exhibition area, Excon’17offered dedicated space to over 850 exhibitors from 21 countries, to launch over 250 new equipment and machinery. Excon’17 was also the right platform to meet prospective clients, meet existing customers, attend conferences by industry experts, and interact with the who’s who of the CE sector. It has emerged as the most sought-after platform where suppliers, customers, manufacturers, govt bodies, and other stakeholders gathered to understand current business needs, view world-class machinery, solutions, strategies that drive infra growth of the country.
Laying a Strong Foundation
Organized by CII, the prestigious biennial event has the ICEMA as its Sector Partner and is supported by the BAI. Gov of Karnataka is the Host State for Excon’17. With each passing edition, the Excon’17 has witnessed immense growth both in quality & participation. Event has witnessed a 16% growth in terms of no of exhibitors compared with the 2015 edition. It hosted over 1000 exhibitors and over 40,000 keen business visitors. However, the highlight of this edition is the enhanced participation of overseas CoS from over 20 countries. There were also country pavilions including leading economies like Germany, Italy, China, South Korea and the UK. The event kickstarted with a contagious optimism. Excon’17 is one of the biggest events that CII does, and one which it is extremely proud of. India is undeniably on a growth trajectory, which rides on the back of infra.
Construction industry did face its set of challenges since the peak in 2011. However, things have started looking up. In 2017, the Construction industry has experienced unprecedented growth, surpassing the previous best numbers of 2011. Excon’17 happened at a highly opportune time when the global spotlight is not only on India, but also on Karnataka. We are poised to enter a new era in the manufacturing glory. After the completion of the Dedicated Freight Corridor in 2018, it is expected that goods will reach from Northern India to the Western coast within 14 hours, as opposed to almost 14 days at present. Various industrial corridors in the works including from Amritsar to Kolkata, Chennai to Bengaluru, Mumbai to Delhi, these new corridors will truly be the harbinger of growth, and on both ends of these routes we will see a surge in urbanisation. Challenges exist, when America urbanised, land, gas and water were cheaply available. These have become extremely scarce commodities, therefore we have to do very compact, very dense urbanisation on the back of public transportation, we have to embed our cities with public transportation, and recycle our water. as opposed to countries where urbanization has already peaked, we are beginning the process at a time of technological advances. Reinforcing govt’s commitment to boost the construction sector, it is one of the rare industries for which GST was actually introduced. To create the right ecosystem for the growth, govt has taken a vast no of measures to make business easy and simple.
Suggestions to further boost infra activity in the country were observed from the sppeches during inaugral session. Urgent revival of the PPP model to create a conducive environment by way of policy framework as laid out by the Kelkar Committee Report; Fast forward the Construction, Earth Moving, Material Handling, and Mining Equipment (CEMM) Act that will bring regulation on Safety, Environment and Second-hand Imports under one umbrella; Create equipment standards based on technology and lifecycle costs instead of govt control; Need for further impetus for EPC. There was no better place to have these discussions and dialogues, and make the connections to take this forward. Underlying all the business, Excon’17 is creating the linkages for MSMEs. Highlighting the gamut of R&D advances showcased here, one can find huge supply chains, including global supply chains that will start getting developed.
Round-Table: CEOs Stress on PPP Model,
Although the Indian construction industry is on its top gear of growth, the road apparently seems not free from obstacles. Thus, it is very imp to understand how the forerunners of the industries are looking at the road ahead. Considering this fact, a CEOs Round Table Session is also organised which had the participation of leading global and Indian CEOs in the infra and construction sectors, discussed the present situation and put their views on things need to be done. For the progress of the country, development of robust infra is a must. However, development and maintenance of these huge infras need hefty investment and that’s a challenge. While explaining how to manage that Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, Govt of India opined, “Wherever govt makes huge investment for developing big infra projects – that should subsequently be given to the private sector for better operation and maintenance. Although we faced a series of problems, PPP model is a very big success in India, and that has to be revived.” Collaboration is the way Funding offers a big challenge that decelerate most of the big infra projects in our country. Kamal Bali, MD, Volvo India & Chairman of CII Karnataka State Council spoke on the way to overcome it. “I think for all the new projects, the govt has clearly demonstrated its vision. We need to go ahead with a hybrid kind of approach. I think collaboration is the key to solve this challenge.” Adding to that, Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, JCB India and Chairman, CII Excon’17, asserted, “Hybrid annuity model for the roads and highways is working. It is a matter of replicating that. It is important that in terms of processes and procedures state govts bring the things online. There is no roadmap, but we are optimistic, and we must go for collaboration.” While commenting on the PPP model, Arvind Garg, Executive Vice President & Head - Construction & Mining Machinery Business at Larsen & Toubro, said, “If we need the PPP model to succeed, the govt should make some provisions for enhancing their profitability.” While expressing his view on the challenge of flow of finance in the construction CoS, Hari Sankaran, Vice Chairman and MD of IL&FS said, “Most of the construction CoS are overstressed today, and we need to find out practical solutions for their smooth running.”
Knowledge sharing : Infra Summit 2017
As part of Excon, CII organised an Infra Summit on 12 Dec’17 which deliberated on the opportunities in infra development through PPP. A CII-ICEMA Report on Indian Construction Equipment Industry also released during the inaugural session. CII and ICEMA organised a conference on ‘Nextgen Infra’ on 13 Dec’17 which presented the advancement of technology and integration of IT in building world-class infra. Alively inaugural programme featuring industry and govt dignitaries was followed by three back to back sessions that brought various stakeholders on a common platform for exchange of ideas, knowledge and constructive feedback. For the first session, Hari Sankaran, Chairman, CII National Committee on Infra and PPP held forth on the process-driven nature of business in India, “I have found in my 30 years of experience that taking shortcuts always leads to grief. When I am not taking shortcuts, I may still come to grief, but not for the wrong reasons.” The session was entitled “Reinv-enting the Public Private Partnership Wheel”, with a panel including Sudhir Hoshing, Joint MD, IRB Infra Developers Ltd; Julia Michael Bevis Senior Director, Maersk Group; Debashis Ghosh, EVP Infra Development Corp (Karnataka) Ltd; and moderated by Soma Banerjee, Executive Director, Energy & Infra, CII. Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry, Govt of India addressed the gathering through video. He reaffirmed the ruling govt’s commitment to channelising massive investments towards infra as an investment in the country’s future. Shop talk The second session entitled “Enhancing Infra Financing” was moderated by Abhaya Agarwal, Partner - Infra and PPP Advisory, Ernst & Young India with a special address by Kenichi Yokoyama. It featured a healthy to and fro between stalwarts of financial institutions and the infra sphere on the impact of NPAs in the banking sectors, subsequent reluctance of institutions to invest in infra and ways to end the fear psychosis. The panel included D K Vyas, CEO, SREI Finance; Suvek Nambiar, MD & CEO, India Infradebt Ltd (ICICI & Bank of Baroda); Vijay Sarma, Senior Expert, Mckinsey & Co; and Dimitrov Krishnan, VP, Sales & Marketing, Volvo Construction Equipment (CE). The big picture The session on “The Future of Smart Urban Infra” featured a panel with Hari Prasad Hegde, Sr VP & Global Head, Operations, WIPRO Ltd; Deepak Goray, GM, Siemens; Rajesh Phadke, Chief Architect & Planner, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT); and Angshik Chaudhuri, MD, Cisco Smart +Connected Communities. It was moderated by Sanjeev Ahluwalia, Advisor, ORF and focussed on the bigger picture of how current and upcoming trends in the industry looked to shaping the future of urban infra in the country.
Public Sector avenues: The session on “Govt Projects - the key enabler- featured representations from major infra segments under the Govt of India where PPPs can open a world of opportunities for the industry. V L Patankar, Former DG & Special Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Col N Balamurugan, Director, Border Roads Organisation, spoke on the state of affairs in Roads & Highways. Railways were represented by SK Dhiman, Executive Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, while Joy Rajan chief marketing officer, L&T Smart World and Communication, spoke for Smart City Projects.
Patron concerns: The second knowledge session of the day was titled “Infra Development – voice of customers”, featuring a panel discussion moderated by S Chandramouli, COO, Feedback Business Consulting. The panel comprised Nitin R Patel, Executive Director, Sadbhav Group; Anand Sancheti, Director, SMS Infra Ltd; Ranjit Manjarekar, Vice President, Tata Projects Ltd; Srikant Kulkarni, Sr Vice President, Sobha Ltd; B P Pandey, Vice President, JSW Steel Ltd; and K Vijay, Vice President, ICEMA.
Galvanizing for future: The final and perhaps most intensive session of the day, titled “Future Technologies - Its impact on const- presentations by industry featured presentations by industry representatives on technology trends and best practices from their own CoS. It covered a gamut of subjects from Innovative technologies in Earthmoving equipment to Metal 3D Printing and many more.
Conference on Next Gen Infra
America is rich because we have good roads, and not the other way round,” said Hon’ble Minister Shri KT Rama Rao, quoting the late US President JF Kennedy - words that aptly encapsulate the importance of infra in the growth of a nation. He is Minister of IT, Municipal Admin & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Sugar, Mines & Geology, as well as NRI Affairs. At the inaugural session of the conference that coincided with the ongoing Excon’17, Shri Rao vigorously advocated industrial investment in the young state. Going the extra mile Under the maiden govt, Telangana has been losing no time in ramping up the state infra as a measure towards economic and social advancement. The Hyderabad Metro, unveiled only last month, is unparalleled in both -- scale and extent of the private stake in PPP, a project of its kind. Highlighting the state’s drive towards enabling development, Rao listed several policy initiatives designed to encourage industries setting shop in the state. “We welcome manufacturers to come and set up manufacturing ancillary units. We have moved away from red tape to red carpet to attract our investors in the state,” he remarked. He further added, “As part of Telangana Govt’s industrial policy, the entrepreneurs seeking to set up their manufacturing facilities do not require govt permission. If their project is complete and the land is approved, their certification would only take 15 days. Telangana today is ranked number one in the Central govt’s index of the ease of doing business.”
While Telangana offers the prospects of a fresh approach to business from a newly carved state, its neighbor, Karnataka boasts the confidence of a state that has long been in the business of making business easy. Shri RV Deshpande, Hon’ble Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infra Development, Govt of Karnataka, said, “Creation of human resources is the biggest challenge in the present day. We have urged the infra industry captains to create good jobs. We have already created more than 13 lakh jobs by Sep’17 and 5 lakh more jobs are in the pipeline. I also encourage the industry to invent and invest in Karnataka and promote the ease of doing businesses.” Commending the Central Govt’s ‘Make in India’ programme, Shri Deshpande added, “We started making in Karnataka back in 1950s since Bosch came to India. If you look at the experience of major CoS who have come to Karnataka, you will see they get rich dividends and are more likely to prosper.” Focus on innovation Zooming out on disruptive technologies impacting businesses around the world, Rao said, “Innovation, disruption, or ‘jugaad’ as we call it in India, is the only way forward. We are a start-up state and the newest, youngest state, which is always highly receptive to new ideas. We’ll be happy to work out a model where we can work with the industry, and even create customized incentive packages for serious investors.” Recounting Karnataka’s longstanding bonds with innovation, Shri Deshpande pointed out that the state is a leading start-up hub not just in India, but also in the world. Infra at core “The way forward is going to be through infra opportunities,” observed Shri Rao, “India is in fact still a third world country. For us to move into the second world rung, we have to get the infra right.” “Infra is the key for economic, social and human resource development,” seconded Shri Deshpande, speaking for Karnataka, “It’s a key and priority area for the state.” Arvind Garg, President, ICEMA in his address, said “Shri Deshpande is the one who is trying to drive Karnataka towards Next Gen. We also are in the presence of a minister from Telangana who is very passionate for this industry. In terms of ‘Make in India’, southern states play a very key role in the growth of construction industry.”
Smart Initiatives
CII, is working towards bringing in a big shift to the way Excon’17 has been operating so far. With some serious out-of-the box thinking has emerged some innovative ways that will help filling in the gap and strengthening the event’s relation with its stakeholders. Going virtual A virtual platform has been developed to extend Excon’17 by 60 days. The Expo Extender Platform will serve as an effective way of having an extended value for the exhibition by reaching out to the visitors beyond boundaries. “The idea for the virtual platform emerged as a solution to people missing the show due to unavoidable reasons. The plan is to run it 10 days after Excon’17 gets over. The platform offers one the facility to witness the products and technologies that were showcased at the show. It’s also an interactive platform that allows selling and buying. explained Virendra Gupta, Deputy Director General, CII. The platform will be an E-marketplace showing a virtual form of a booth along with its products, information, videos, technical sheets, sales pitches and contact. With its installed ‘Click Through’ algorithm, the exhibitors can have an accountability on the count of visitors and the time they spent on the pages. They can connect with customers in real-time, overcoming geographical barriers. It is ideal for those who missed the expo, visitors who attended but could not visit all booths, and for those in need of additional understanding. It offers them the liberty to choose their place and time to explore exactly what they need and share with their team.
Forging Industry & Academia ties
Academia has often felt the need to interact with the industry and to get acquainted with the practiccal scenario, said gupta. With the aim to build the bridge between the industry and academic institutes, the Academia Pavilion has been created. “This is to encourage interaction between the two entities and forge a strong connection. It will also help showcase the innovations and R&D happening at the institutes so that industry can benefit from them.
For the smooth sailing of goods
A panel discussion on ‘Over Dimensional Cargo-ODC Logistics: Heavy Hauling Next Practices’ was held concurrent to the 9th International Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair at Bengaluru. The discussion covered the role of heavy haulers in project execution, infra bottlenecks for ODC/OWC movement in the country, innovations in carriers for ODC/OWC movement and safety. Panelists shared their on-ground experience to shed light on the real-world practices. The panel comprised Sarwan Agnihotri, Head-Marketing, Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd; Francis Xavier, Head of Operations, Procam Logistics; Ganesh Kamble, Head of Sales, Kloudq Technologies Ltd; Upvinder Singh, Subject Expert-Heavy Lift Transport, USS Logistics; and Vikram Sashtri, Manager of Logistics, B Fouress Pvt Ltd. It was chaired by Suhas Labde, President & COO – Projects and Engineering, NTC Logistics. BAI organized a conference on RERA and GST to facilitate a conversation on construction industry issues during the ongoing Excon’17. The all-India apex representative body of civil engineering construction CoS, BAI has been around for over 74 years, with a direct membership exceeding 15,000 from about 148 centers. In keeping with its vision to assist Indian builders navigate legal, practical and compliance issues, BAI conducted a conference on RERA and GST on the penultimate day of the event. Sandesh Mundra, CA & Chairman, GST Committee, BAI spoke about implications of GST for the construction industry. HN Vijaya Raghva Reddy, President, BAI reviewed the issues of real estate industry vis-à-vis taxation, NOCs, etc. Attendees were also taken on a visit to the BAI stall at Excon’17
Future Positive
Infra is a sector for tomorrow with extremely high direct employment. Construction sector itself is one of the highest employment generators. Today, the display at Excon’17is really all about what can be manufactured in India. A large part of the products here are manufactured by the exhibiting CoS in their own plants. Excon’17is the largest show for India and for CII, and has really grown in the last 17 years. Besides being a huge technology showcase, the products which are the world’s best compete with the world’s best. It also gives you a huge sense of the type of market that is unfolding in India in the construction sector. Growth beyond numbers The sheer size of the show is going to grow in the coming years because India is a land of opportunities. However, the way forward for Excon’17is to grow, but not just in size. The event happens every alternate year. A lot will happen between now and the next edition. There will be many more conversations going on through different kinds of media. That is a dialogue in terms of sharing of how the markets would grow, the opportunities that would arise, the different types of technologies that are coming in, and the different players that are going to come into India. So, while the preparations for Excon 2019 have already begun, a diverse range of smaller shows will also unfold in the meanwhile. These different variants of Excon’17 will be held in different parts of the country, and together they will stitch the entire story together. There is going to be a show in Hyderabad on similar lines as Excon, but on a different scale, and more in North India and the Northeast. Hopes abound The type of visitors we are having, the business visitors that we are getting, the type of business enquiries and the results that we are getting, all indicate that the construction industry is on a growth path. This can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, infra in India is an extremely important sector, and today we are seeing more and more public-sector expenditure being invested in the infra sector. There is also a huge need for India to grow in terms of both rural and urban infra, with roads, airports and more. Therefore, this sector itself will have huge impetus. Many more sectors which are connected to this, like logistics etc. would also be getting a huge boost through this show.
For a Greener Planet
The industry exper ts expounded ways to cope with the grave issue that the industry currently encounters so as to have a secure future. The conference consisted of four sessions titled: ‘Green Building Movement - India’, ‘Affordable Housing Technologies’, ‘Trends & Technologies’ and the last session comprised presentation of a few case studies.
The Green Movement
Syed Mohammed Beary, Chairman, IGBC - Bangalore Chapter & Chairman & MD, Bearys Group gave his perspective on the Green Building Movement in India. Sundeep Vullikanti, Counsellor, CII-IGBC also stressed on the need to develop the Green Building culture in the country. Besides residential, commercial and workshop buildings, the Bearys Group has also built world’s first ecofriendly green mosque at Kodi, Kundapur, Udupi district, Karnataka, which takes no power from the state electricity board and runs on indigenously developed solar and wind power. Ramesh Suthar, Group’s GM - Green Initiatives, explained the ways the Group resorted to in order to make it happen.
Industry contribution
Ramamoorthy Venkateswaran, Head - Civil & Construction, Wipro talked about the company’s initiatives to reduce power consumption by 40% in the Karnataka offices. He said, “Wipro’s green initiative is based on three pillars, namely Reduction in use of power, Reduction in consumption of water and Reduction in waste.” The Central Govt has also taken up the mission of ‘Housing for All by 2022’. Dr. Chandrasekhar Hariharan, Co-chair, IGBC-Bangalore Chapter and Chairman of Biodiversity Conservation (I), revealed, “Forty-five thousand homes have to be delivered a day, if we really need to fulfill this mission.” MG Somashekar, Chairman, IGBC Green Affordable Housing Ratings & Managing Director of PG Setty Construction, explained the concepts of Monolithic construction and Precast construction that may be a way for faster delivery of large scale housing projects. He revealed, “We have built up to four houses in just 48 hours using new technologies.” Breaking the myth on affordable housing, Gautham RK, Director - Sustainability, Cushman & Wakefield India, said, “Affordable housing and Low-cost housing are different categories of housing projects. It does not mean they are inferior, unsafe or non-durable. Except in the USA, in most of the European countries, Affordable Housing projects exist. Unless our perception changes, in India Affordable Housing Source: Magic Wand Media Inc projects will not be successful.”
Smartening the Sector
Digitization, robotics, new lighter and stronger materials, the urgency of environmental regulations has ushered in an era of rapidly evolving and new exciting technology for the construction equipment industry. Increasingly construction is becoming more oriented toward mechanization to reduce project time and control costs – leading to higher demand for advanced construction equipment. Excon’17is undoubtedly a momentous opportunity for manufacturers of construction equipment and components to generate business. However, the rare congregation of such a vast and diverse industry also presents an unparalleled occasion for knowledge sharing. Keeping its commitment to help the industry grow not just in volume, but also through talent development, the third day of Conferences at the event featured a session on Components - Smart Technologies for Smart Equipments. The knowledge package Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President, Volvo Construction Equipment Ltd presented his keynote address on “Big Picture Construction: Equipment, Components and the Way Forward” followed by KR Sanjiv, Chief Technology Officer, Wipro Technologies Ltd who spoke on “Looking into the Future: Autonomous machines, Machine intelligence, Connectivity and more.” In the final presentation titled, “Towards more efficient mobile Hydraulic Systems: A deep dive into efficiency of hydraulics”, Prof Dr Petter Krus, Department of Fluid and Mechatronic Systems, Linköping Universit spoke about various systems such as Open Centre System; Negative Load Sensing System; models for better efficiency; case studies from industrial partners and applications, etc. He introduced Hopsan NG, the next generation of the Hopsan simulation package used primarily for hydromechanical simulation. Conclusion India is one of the fastest growing markets for construction and earthmoving equipment globally and has emerged as a major base for manufacturing equipment and components. The Infra Sector has seen a steady growth over the past two years, with massive employment potential predicted for the next decade. At a time when India is unabashedly pursuing the ambition to be a global industry hub, educational seminars such as this go a long way into helping the industry keep pace with the world.
Growing global footpint
The last four days of Excon’17 have been immensely beneficial for the paticipants. The show has had an unprecedented success in the response received so far. Foreign participation representing over 20 countries is yet another testimony to the event’s growing glory. Through Excon, CII aims to present India as a potential global outsourcing destination for construction equipment, components and aggregates manufacturing. Since its inception in 2000, the event has grown to enjoy the status of being South Asia’s largest Construction Equipment exhibition. Foreign participation The current edition plays host to over 925 exhibitors including 275 from overseas. There are dedicated country pavilions including leading economies like China, Germany, Italy, China, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Additionally, there has been a tremendous backing from renowned international associations like Germany Engineering Federation (VDMA); Korea Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (KOCEMA); Confindustria Modena and UNACEA from Italy, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); and Construction Equipment Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Turkey (IMDER).
Optimism in the industry
Reflecting the high growth of the infra sector, the CE sector of the country also grew by 32% in 2016-17 and is expected to grow to $5 billion by FY’19-20 from $2.8 bn in FY’14-15. With a resurgent India gathering pace and expected to cross an annual growth rate of 8% in the coming years, this sector is poised to grow from strength to strength. With the global manufacturing environment changing with the advancements in technology, new consumer demands, shifting supply chains, it was an opportune moment for Excon’17 to arrive. As the critical foundation of the manufacturing and infra sectors, the CE industry has much to gain from these significant trends. Echoing the sentiment, the theme of Excon’17: ‘Smart Technology Fueling the Next Gen Infra’ perfectly aligns with the national agenda of infra development, through innovation smart technology thereby contributing sig. to the India growth story. With most large MNCs in the CE space having a manufacturing base in India and many also making products here for markets outside India (SAARC, Africa, ASEAN), the CE sector is expected to witness sustained growth to complement infra creation in India and overseas. FDI received in the Construction Development Sector from Apr’00 to Dec’16 stood at $24.3 bn. In the last Union Budget, infra development has been identified as a priority sector for the govt, with the total outlay for this sector being increased to $52 bn. There has been a marked improvement in the pace of projects being awarded & execution efficiencies. The govt has initiated various steps for accelerating infra dev. and for putting India back on a growth trajectory after a period of declining GDP growth rate.
A common sentiment among industry leaders, exhibitors and end-users for this year’s event has been that the construction sector is finally overcoming the slump it experienced over the past few years. There has been a corresponding increase in the size and scope of the fair, and most stakeholders are hopeful for the future. “The next ten years are going to be the best decade for the Infra, Spare parts, Construction machinery, and Mining industries,” estimates Harish Srisrimal, Managing Director, Team Commotrade Pvt Ltd. They represent the brand Zoomlion, a Chinese construction machinery maker with a strong presence in Agriculture. Su Zimeng, Executive Vice-Chairman, China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) & Chairman, Beijing International Construction Machinery Exhibition and Seminar (BICES), says, “India is a growing economy which has fuelled the demand for construction equipment and is among the 5 most important countries for China. Thus, the Chinese CoS are turning their attention towards the Indian market. The CoS have all kinds of technically advanced and reliable machines required in the Indian market.”
Heartening response
The enthusiasm on part of the exhibitors has been more than justified over the past few days with high footfall and the quality of leads generated. CoS see Excon’17 as a significantly beneficial platform to exhibit and are receiving great response for their business. It’s exciting to witness a spike in the no of visitors this edition. Good contacts and business partners are crucial especially for small businesses and Excon’17 ensures you get them. Italian CoS are highly satisfied with the show in regard to the focused visitors they have received. They have found some good partners in them and, hence are keen to take part in the next edition. The members have reaped considerable benefits through it. Over the years, many CoS from the Italian pavilion have moved to independent booths in collaboration with their Indian partners they met at previous editions,” he says, “This best exemplifies the cooperation between Italian & Indian CoS.” At the end of the day, a trade fair is about generating leads that CoS pursue to turn them into deals. However, at Excon, things happen at a faster pace.
Announcing Soon
Excon’17 is aligned with the GoI’s ‘Make in India’ vision and has emerged as an imperative platform to bring together leading global and domestic CE players to demonstrate their world-class technological prowess and capabilities. The event also provided an opportunity for participants to network; discuss and debate on the opportunities and challenges in creating world-class infra.
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