India has been attracting foreign investments and many large companies are eager to invest in the various sectors of the country.

Sanjeev Bajaj, Chief Officer, Escorts Kubota

How do you see the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme and mission motivating industry to participate in it? How is this helping the construction equipment sector to improve its technological status and competitiveness in the global market?

“Make in India” is a major initiative of Government of India designed to facilitate investment, to build best in class manufacturing infrastructure and the capability in the country.

As per the latest reports by ICEMA, Construction Equipments Industry in India constitutes 97% India manufactured products and roughly 8% of total manufactured are exported. Which is a good indication of self-reliance of India.  

At component level, industry is dependent upon imports for specific components of electrics & electronics, specific grades of steel, engine technology parts etc. This is either due to capacity, capability or cost of manufacturing.

However, with Make in India push, today the technology and quality are becoming exceedingly capable, and India is moving at the faster pace, in meeting the Global standards. There is no doubt that dependency on imports is declining rapidly, and we believe that very soon, the need of all the critical components & technology on imports will decline further.

Foreseeing the government’s strong commitment and stable sentiments in the market, how do you evaluate your company’s growth in the coming years?

Government of India continued its focus on infrastructure growth by increased planning outlay across all the sectors. For the coming years we have aggressive planning and anticipated the volume growth. We have made our Mid Term Business Plan till FY28 and in anticipation of the industry a very aggressive Product Range, Marketing Channel and Capacity Planning is aligned and allocated adequate budget to fund that growth.  We are optimistic about the future of the business in coming years.

What are your views on making India as a global construction equipment manufacturing hub?

India has been attracting foreign investments and many large companies are eager to invest in the various sectors of the country. The government of India also has supported the idea of making our country, preferred destination for foreign investors.

As we know that India is largely self-reliant for the current CE industry requirements. At the same time, about 8-10% Equipments produced in India are exported. We believe this proportion will go up significantly in next few years. Also, there is a clear trend of India becoming a manufacturing hub for large multinational players to supply to their other plants or subsidiaries. These volumes are apart from the direct export sales, mentioned above.  

Primary reasons for this trend are the levels of Quality which can be now produced in India, the availability of Technology and Skilled labour and at much Lower Costs, with Stable Economic Outlook and Policies to support.

Tell us on your export market and important initiatives to cater to the requirement of International market?

The exports for the construction equipment industry for the last few years was largely coming from SAARC countries & Africa etc. However, this is changing now, and Indian manufactured products are now being sold in many more regions.

We are also focussed on expanding our channel in Global markets from 20+ countries today to 30+ in a short time. We have product line up to suit these countries and we are adding more models with features specific to country to gain our share.

We also believe with India moving on to BSV emission norms, these opportunities will further expand.

Give us an understanding of your company’s performance in the last 3 years?

Last 3 years were quite challenging and exciting at the same time. Firstly, due to pandemic, markets were disrupted and supply chain was impacted drastically. Later the emission change to BSIV and the high inflation also made things very unpredictable.

It was important for the industry to come back strongly and prepare for the future growth and we feel we have done that very well.

We have grown as an organisation in terms of volumes & profitability. Our product line-up has become very aggressive & our dealer network has become one of the strongest in the country today. Escorts joined hands with Kubota to become one company in India and today we have 4 product categories in our portfolio, Pick & Carry cranes, Backhoe Loaders, Mini Excavators (from Kubota) and Road Compaction Equipments.

What are your future strategies at a time when technological disruptions are rapidly defining businesses in the sector?

Industry is moving at a fast pace in terms of Product Technology, People Safety & Emission Standards along with the push to make products more Efficient and Cost effective. We are taking these priorities as the basis into making our product strategies.

We have always been the front runner in identifying the need of the customer and our strategy is to provide our customers productive & effective solutions, also making the working environment of the operator safe. Beyond business we are focused on impacting the lives of the people positively and we hereby are committed & strengthening our brand positioning.

How is the scarcity of skilled operators affecting the prospects of the construction equipment market?

Escorts Kubota Limited has always invested towards training of people and ensuring safe and comfortable work environment. We have best in class training setup in India and we also use digital technology to train ours as well as customer team.

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