Tata Hitachi is a pioneer in introducing the latest technologically advanced equipment in the Indian market

– BKR Prasad

Head, Marketing & Product Development, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company

How do you look at the present market conditions for your products?

When Covid-19 played havoc with economies globally, the Indian government took a slightly different path and focused on increasing investment in infrastructure as the main driver of support to the economy. This resulted in the growth of the domestic CE industry in 2020-21 by 11% despite the pandemic.

To accelerate infrastructure development, the government announced the Gati Shakti- National Master Plan in 2021– a unique planning and implementation platform in the world. This focus on infrastructure continued in 2021-22. However, the CE industry contracted by 11% in 2021-22 mainly because of the change in emission norms for wheeled construction equipment to CEV4. The Excavators segment continued to grow.

The growth in the CE industry is specifically driven by investment in major development initiatives such as:

• ~35000km National highway upgradation & development of express highways through Bharatmala Pariyojana
• Augmenting capacity by doubling of tracks, development of greenfield Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors by Indian Railways.
• Greenfield high speed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in western India
• Construction of Metro rail in over 15 cities across the country to improve urban mobility
• Greenfield airports at Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Vizag, Goa and Dholera
• Development of more than 100 airports by the Airports Authority of India
• Investment in various irrigation projects by the state government to augment water supply to irrigate the land
• Greenfield port at Vizingam in Kerala & improving logistics efficiency through Sagarmala port infrastructure development
• Jal Jeevan mission – providing safe & clean driving water to every household by 2024

With the focus on infrastructure investment announced in the 2022-23 budget, Capex increased by 35% to INR 7.5 Trillion (USD 101 Bn) mostly in infrastructure. Guided by the NIP & Gati Shakti Master plan, the CE industry is expected to sustain growth this year and in the coming years.

Can you brief us on your export market?

Currently, we are exporting machines to SAARC countries through Tata Hitachi authorized dealers, and the Middle East & Africa through the Hitachi network.

Nepal / Hitachi network are the two biggest markets for us & we are excited about growing our business in Bangladesh, Bhutan & Sri Lanka as well. We have recently introduced a 99 HP Shinrai Power Backhoe Loader in Nepal, Bhutan & Bangladesh. Through this, we hope to leverage our manufacturing capability to address requirements from parts of the global market.

Customers are becoming focused on green initiatives and savings in fuel costs and leaving a lesser carbon footprint. Could you please help us understand the green initiatives on product development undertaken by your organisation?

Even as technology in the powering domain is still evolving, there is a need to be pragmatic in selecting the right technology for each equipment class considering its owner profile, usage, mobility, availability of support infrastructure, cost viability, capital required, etc. to make overall business sense.

Tata Hitachi machines are known for their high fuel efficiency across categories. One of the ways this is achieved is through a careful selection of best-in-class fuel-efficient engines to power the machines. The adaptation of some of the best hydraulic technologies from the Hitachi stable helps to extract maximum output from the prime mover and to minimize load on the engine when the machine is not being used. These technologies are made available across various equipment platforms with the use of varying levels of electronics to help smartly improve fuel efficiency. Furthermore, the smart use of telematics systems – which provides operational and equipment parameters, is designed to compare such data points with our database and provide recommendations to minimize fuel losses by identifying improvement areas in the operation of the equipment.

What are your after-sales initiatives for your range of products?

Tata Hitachi machines are designed and built keeping in mind high built-in quality to give reliability and durability to the product, long interval service to reduce the need for frequent servicing, the IoT and other advanced features to automatically diagnose and warn of possible problems on the equipment, and a wide range of innovative attachments to help the customers.

More importantly, Tata Hitachi can alert a customer in case of a problem on the machine and fix it before it leads to a breakdown. Service technicians can guide the customer’s team on troubleshooting over a video call and restore the machines. The Tata Hitachi online portal allows customers to place orders online and have them delivered to their doorstep.

Tata Hitachi provides operator training programs both at Tata Hitachi Training Centre and customer premises to get the best out of the machine. They also learn about maintenance practices and troubleshooting to work uninterrupted for a longer duration.

What are the plans for electrification of the offering by your organisation? What typical challenges do you think the industry would face if we must move to complete electric offering for the customers?

With the target of Net Zero emissions by 2070 taken by the Government of India, reduction in the use of fossil fuels by our machines is a major challenge and as well as an opportunity. Electrification of our Excavators is one of the possible ways in which we are trying to achieve this goal.

With the heavy increase in the expenditure for infrastructure development in this country, how do you think you are going to utilise the opportunity? Are you planning to add more products in the future?

Tata Hitachi is a pioneer in introducing the latest technologically advanced equipment in the Indian market. Tata Hitachi’s TL340H Wheel loader is India’s first and only Hydrostatic Wheel loader. It is designed with efficiency at its core and is equipped with a variable displacement pump to further its fuel savings advantage.

Our latest offerings in Backhoe loaders are SHINRAI PRIME & SHINRAI PRO. These have been designed to meet demanding Indian customer requirements. The major segment of the Indian Backhoe loader market is hiring; hence fuel consumption is the major criterion in choice of machine. Tata Hitachi’s SHINRAI series boosts fuel efficiency with its EHS (Excellent Hydraulic System), wherein the flow is regulated by sensing the pressure of the system. Apart from low fuel consumption, SHINRAI PRIME also has high bucket forces, dump height, and good reaches for customers looking at cost-effective performance & productivity.

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