Cummins is committed to delivering advanced powertrain solutions that meet the evolving emission standards.

Nitin Jirafe
MD TCPL, Head, Engine Business, Cummins India 

How do you see the current demand for engines used in heavy and construction equipment in India and globally? What are the key drivers?

Following a robust FY24, India’s Construction Equipment (CE) sector experienced slower domestic growth in FY25. However, increased equipment exports and stable demand in the real estate and mining sectors-maintained industry momentum, offsetting a softening in the road construction segment. Notably, we observed a consistent upswing in demand for specialized and high-efficiency machinery, evidenced by growing sales of excavators, motor graders and skid steers.

The Indian CE industry holds promising long-term prospects, primarily driven by the government’s infrastructure push through the National Infrastructure Pipeline, alongside ‘Make in India’ initiative and smart city projects. As India strengthens its manufacturing prowess, its potential to emerge as a global CE manufacturing and export hub is increasingly within reach.

What are the key design features of your engines that enhance performance in harsh construction and mining environments (e.g., high load, dust, temperature)?

Construction equipment works under difficult environmental and heavy load conditions with a requirement for consistent performance to maintain productivity. Cummins with over multi decade of global and India experience understand that well. Hence, all our engine for construction equipment are designed and built with those consideration and refined over several decades of field experience.

Construction equipment is exposed to harsh conditions of extreme temperatures, high altitude levels, dusty work environment and peak power and torque requirements with fast transient requirements. To address these requirements Cummins engines are equipped with active pre-cleaners to handle dusty environment and ensure longer air filter life; sufficiently designed cooling system & power cylinder to ensure seamless working under high temperatures; right air handling system that ensures engine is performing under low oxygen environments at high altitudes and is able to provide power and flat torque with transient response that ensures the equipment’s productivity is maintained. These engines also incorporate thermal management strategies to store and release thermal energy, enhancing thermal performance.

These are extensively tested to validate the performance across the high altitudes of Himalayas to the heated deserts of Rajasthan, with varied load conditions, thereby ensuring the robust integration of engine with equipment across varying operating conditions.

At Cummins, we believe that tough terrains require tougher equipment, and we pioneer in making construction engine systems in the industry. Our construction engines are renowned for their durability and reliability, delivering responsive power with minimal maintenance costs.

How is your company addressing CEV BS V and other global emission standards? What challenges and opportunities do they present?

Cummins is committed to delivering advanced powertrain solutions that meet the evolving emission standards. With the introduction of CEV BS V norms in India, which require over 90% reduction in key pollutants compared to BS III, we see this not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity to offer cleaner, greener products.

Our electronically controlled engines with active aftertreatment systems, like the QSB 4.5 and QSB 6.7, have been tested for over 18,000 hours in real-world conditions. These engines are developed to enhance value to the equipment owners by reducing their total cost of ownership. These highly fuel-efficient engines are built to deliver high reliability, durability and performance.

Backed by global experience and strong local capabilities, Cummins is well-positioned to support customers through this transition. Our aftermarket service network includes:

•    19 full-service dealers with 436 touchpoints

•    200+ Cummins Component Care Centres

•    Trained technicians and advanced diagnostic tools

•    Repair-first approach to minimize downtime and cost

With significant investments in service and support, Cummins ensures a smooth shift to advanced technologies—powering a more sustainable future.

Further these products are capable to meet future emission standards for tracked construction equipment and are scalable to meet most advance global emission standards. This provides equipment OEMs to minimize investments for developing new products and to address global markets.

How are your engines contributing towards improved profitability for the operators, increased fuel economy and aiding environmental sustainability?

To maximize operator profitability, two key areas must be addressed: increasing revenue by enhancing productivity and reducing costs through improved fuel efficiency. Achieving these goals also contributes to environmental sustainability.

Maximizing productivity means ensuring that more work gets done during operation and that machines experience minimal downtime. Cummins’ application-specific products are engineered with higher power density and peak torque performance at lower speeds, enabling greater productivity across a variety of equipment. These engines are designed, tested, and validated to perform reliably and durably in even the most demanding environments, backed by Cummins’ deep understanding of real-world applications.

Our latest generation of advanced electronic engines also offers intelligent telematics capabilities, including advanced diagnostics and predictive maintenance, helping operators optimize uptime and performance.

On the cost side, fuel efficiency plays a critical role, as fuel is often the highest contributor to operating expenses. Cummins’ new generation of electronic engines deliver improved fuel economy compared to previous models, while also meeting the latest emission standards. Coupled with Cummins’ advanced aftertreatment systems, these engines significantly reduce particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, supporting both cost savings and environmental goals.

How do you foresee the role of engines evolving in the next 5 years in the construction and mining equipment sector?

Engines are the workhorse of the any construction equipment. The future of power would be intelligent, productive, lower emission and one that supports climate goals.

We are already seeing trend of higher adoption of specialized equipment to drive productivity. These will further be supported by adoption of electronic engines that can deliver intelligent power by more precise control of fuel system and thereby achieving better equipment performance along with lower fuel consumption and emissions. Electronic engines generate lots of real time data, which can be harnessed with telematics to improve equipment productivity, uptime and reduced maintenance cost.

Apart from the same to meet climate goals, we see adoption of alternate powertrains. The same would be driven by infrastructure, technology maturity and economics. For India it will be also important that we ensure energy security as we transition to newer energy sources. With that we see adoption of Natural Gas and hydrogen for high load and more mobile applications, while equipment which are operating in enclosed environment (mining) transitioning to electric powertrain with hybrid as a viable solution in interim.