India mulls safeguard duty, sales sops for local cranes, crawlers

India’s next big manufacturing push may come from an unlikely corner—the construction site.

- Manas Pimpalkhare & Subhash Narayan

For years, the market has been dominated by China.

(MINT)

After years of watching cheaper Chinese machinery dominate the market, the government is now considering a safeguard duty on heavy cranes and crawlers, along with sales-linked incentives to nudge local manufacturers to ramp up production.

According to two officials aware of the matter, the ministry of heavy industries (MHI) is working on a plan to reduce import dependence in a market worth billions, just as demand for construction and infrastructure equipment surges across India.