MOVING FASTER

Road building equipment is making waves thanks to the opportunities

- MOLLY R

The Indian construction equipment (CE) industry, which aspires to become the world’s second largest by 2030, is believed to have grown by 25% year on year in FY2023, surpassing 100,000-unit sales for the second year in a row. The main reason for this smart rise in the industry’s fortunes is the sharp increase in road and infrastructure construction activity across the country, driven by the massive governmental spend as well as private sector programmes. The current and future project pipeline is expected to enable the CE sector achieve 15-20% growth year-on-year growth in FY2024 before declining sharply to flat growth and even -10% in FY2025, following the general elections.

Sales in fourth quarter of FY23 increased by 23% y-o-y and by 22% quarter-on-quarter over Q3FY23. On a month-on-month basis, sales in March 2023 increased by 17% over February 2023, said a latest report by industry apex body Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (ICEMA).

Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced a provisional target for the construction of approximately 13,800km of National Highways in the fiscal year 2023-24. As of June 2023, 2,250 km of NHs have already been constructed, progressing towards achieving the set target. Gadkari highlighted the improved quality of construction materials used in road projects, including higher CBR soil, higher modulus bitumen/modified bitumen, high-strength concrete, and high-strength steel.