All infrastructure development activities under ‘Sagarmala’ will create an opportunity for OEMs of construction equipment.
M. V. Rajasekhar Director (Mining & Construction), BEML How do you look at the possibilities improving for OEMs in the CE industry as the Sagarmala project is set to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure
– M. V. Rajasekhar
Director (Mining & Construction), BEML
How do you look at the possibilities improving for OEMs in the CE industry as the Sagarmala project is set to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently?
Sagarmala Project of Government of India (GOI) is related to the overall development of ports and coastal areas of India to further improve the country’s economy with the sole aim to maximize domestic trade with Export-Import Bank of the United States at minimal costs, augmenting its entire logistics sector.
Government’s initiatives are focused on infrastructure development that will further boost the demand for construction equipment in India. It will also transform India’s logistics sector, give momentum to industrial and economic development, create large-scale employment and also open new vistas for skilling.
This project aims at simplifying procedures used at ports for cargo movement and promotes usage of electronic channels for information exchange leading to quick, efficient, hassle-free and seamless cargo movement.
All infrastructure development activities under ‘Sagarmala’ will create an opportunity for OEM’s of construction equipment; as the demand for construction equipment will increase.
What are your major contibutions in the Sagarmala project? Which of your equipment are employed in the Sagarmala project?
We manufacture equipment for Mining & Construction sectors with the main focus area being the Mining Sector. BEML supplies to all the major Mining Customers in India as well to other countries.
BEML products are for Infrastructure development projects, such as Hydraulic Excavators, Crawler & Wheel Dozers, Motor Graders and Loaders. The Hydraulic Excavators can be further deployed for dredging activities. We supply the above construction equipment to various contractors who deploy the equipment for various infrastructure development projects of India.
The other equipment manufactured by BEML includes Dump Trucks, Electric Hydraulic Excavators, Tyre Handler, Pipe Layers and Water Sprinklers. For Sagarmala project, BEML has not employed any equipment directly.
With heavy increase in expenditure for infrastructure development through Sagarmala project, how do you think you are going to utilize the opportunity?
BEML manufactures and supplies high quality products for diverse sectors of economy such as Mining, Steel, Cement, Power, Construction, Irrigation, Road, Ports, besides supply to Defence & Aerospace and Rail & Metro.
With regards to Sagarmala project, our equipment can be deployed for Road Construction, Dredging and Port development activities. The opportunities projected by Sagarmala project are very much encouraging and BEML with its strength in developing the right products to suit the customer requirement and with its nationwide marketing network will utilise this opportunity by supplying resilient construction equipment.
Last mile connectivity is crucial. How do you assess the challenges in the Sagarmala project in terms of construction equipment?
Equal to the opportunities foreseen for Construction Equipment industry from this mega project there are challenges also that needs to be met by the Industry. Some of them are:
– Coping with the impact caused due to the Pandemic.
– Supply chain & logistics.
– Technology upgradations.
– Transition of the industry to CEV-IV emission norms.
– Increase in input cost due to the impact of steel price and other commodities.
BEML with 5 decades of expertise in design and manufacturing construction and mining equipment supported with its world class R&D and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities is fully geared up to overcome the present and future challenges.
What are your suggestions that need to be incorporated by the government to ensure not just the success of the programme, but also growth for the construction equipment manufacturers?
The government’s policy of ‘Make in India’ and vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is an encouraging initiative which supports all the Domestic Construction Equipment manufacturers. BEML is also utilising the opportunity and have produced indigenously equipment matching the current industry requirement and have successfully deployed the same.
However, further the following support from our government will help to boost the local CE manufacturers and related industries:
– Time gap between conceptualisation and implementation of infrastructure projects should be reduced and the pace of projectisation needs to have a continual rhythm to help achieve the infrastructure development targets of the government.
– Access to low-cost finance for buyers of construction equipment needs to be improved by providing the priority sector status to the CE industry at par with the infrastructure sector.
– Encouraging purchases through domestic Tenders only and restricting imports.
– Sufficient time to be given to the domestic manufacturers for development of new technologies locally and subsequent implementation; this will reduce imports and cost.
With the support of all the stakeholders, we are very confident that this industry is going to be an able partner to the Government of India to propel this nation from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Building a new India.’
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