Northeast To Drive Equipment Demand

A slew of projects announced by the Central and State Governments has brought plenty of opportunities for equipment suppliers, especially for small and medium size with high end technology.

Huge amount of work is to be done in the North-East which is possible only by large scale mechanization and infusion of technology. This would require adequate skilled manpower in the region and appropriate technology. States Dr. SS Porwal, VSM Additional Director General of Border Roads, “There are huge backlog of various infra projects in entire NE regions. We need large scale mechanisation and induction and deployment of latest state of art equipment in big way to meet the challenges in the demand-supply gap of infrastructure. There will be huge requirement for matching technical, supervisory staff and equipment operators. BRO had already contributed in big way by establishing basic connectivity to difficult and inaccessible remote area.”
According to AnandSundaresan, President, ICEMA there is a huge opportunity for small and medium size equipment and machinery, with high end technology. Unfortunately, many of the major players have not entered the space. To an extent, this huge demand is taken care by proprietary firms. However, it seems they are not able to upgrade technology and scale up production to match the demand.
“Over the last three to four years there has been a major thrust on north eastern states by way of connectivity projects through rail and roads, and creation of physical infrastructure. The government has realised the importance of developing NE as rest of the country, and the renewed thrust is part of the inclusive growth agenda of the government. The high activity levels in the NE have opened up plenty of opportunities for the CE sector,” avers Jasmeet Singh, Head-Corporate Communications and External Relations, JCB India.
Says Karan Parikh, Managing Director, Linnhoff India, “The ratio of north east to other zones of India contributed less than 5% over the last 10 years. But the trend has changed – in today’s scenario the contribution has crossed over 20%.”
Speaking about bridging the skill gap HS Mohan, CEO, IESC had this to say. “IESC has certified training centres in North East with IESC certified Trainers. IESC is focusing in this important territory to undertake skilling process and work closely with the respective governments for employment generation and absorption of certified candidates. IESC has signed Memorandum of Understanding to train operators and mechanics of the contractors for the ongoing projects under RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) programmes. This is a short term training for experienced operators and mechanics from the field. The training will be held at their respective sites with duration of 40 hours/5days. The candidates will be assessed by our assessment agency, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as per IESC job roles and NSQF level. The candidates so successful will be issued certificate from Government of India, which will enable them for their career progression.”
The following pages give a insight into the opportunities and challenges.

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