“We see immense scope and demand for crane rental.”

Sahajveer Anand
Director 
GT Nova Equipments

GT Nova Group is founded on the wealth of technical know-how that it can apply to engineer its projects and daily operation/maintenance of the cranes. “Supported by sophisticated and latest model equipment, the company is able to carry out complicated turnkey engagements and long term rental jobs throughout India,
states Sahajveer Anand, Director – GT Nova Equipments. In an exclusive chat with EQUIPMENT TIMES Anand shares his views on the crane rental industry.

Supported by sophisticated and latest model equipment, we are able to carry out complicated turnkey engagements and long term rental jobs throughout India.

How do you assess the scope of business (crane hiring and rental) in the present?

We see immense scope and demand for cranes in the near and medium term as there are many new infrastructure projects in the pipeline.  Verticals which will be driving demand will be railways, metro projects and freight corridors, construction of bridges and flyovers, piling jobs. Windmill and oil & gas sectors also drive the demand for crane hiring and rental.

The crane rental industry is unorganised and doesn’t have any standard procedures. What is your take on this?

Yes, it is true that the industry is majorly un organised, this is mainly because the majority of the industry is comprised of companies which have under 8-10 cranes and the fleet is variable for every company which leads to different operating procedures for everyone depending upon the types of cranes one has.

We have now implemented procedures which should help us with preventive repair / maintenance, reducing downtime, payment follow ups to name a few. I feel as the industry is growing, gradually all small – medium sized rental companies will have to adopt certain standard procedures in order to increase profitability.

Has the roll out of GST positively impacted your business, especially in terms of movement of equipment from project to project in a state and from one to other state?

One benefit of GST which has been seen is that state entry tax/ octroi has been removed, other major benefits are yet to be seen in the future.

Disadvantage has been that the GST rate is fixed at 18% which has increased our working capital requirements as payments from the clients are received after 60-90 days at least.

What is your fleet size in terms of value and number of units and range? Will there be any further investment to enlarge the fleet in the near future?

We have a fleet size of 35 cranes ranging from 20 MT upto 500MT
which are both crawler mounted lattice boom cranes and tyre mounted telescopic cranes. Currently we are undertaking a fleet modernisation drive where in any crane older than 12-15 years will be gradually phased out and newer model cranes will be added.

How advanced is your fleet, especially with regard to safety and performance?

All the cranes in our fleet are fitted with the latest automatic safe load indicators (ASLI), limit switches, auto- cut off features, adequate lighting / signaling / swing horns.

The cranes go through a rigorous third party inspection before commencing operations at each and every site. The crew is given safety training and provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety shoes, hard hats, reflector jackets and gloves to name a few.  Safety of crew is given foremost importance at GT Nova group.

We only provide equipments, which are well maintained and up to date with all safety features which prevent accidents due to misuse of the crane. A complete preventive maintenance check and servicing of the crane is done before the machine is deployed to any project site so that future break down can be avoided which is beneficial to both our clients.

Tell us about your geographical spread.

We have been working in projects pan India such as Delhi metro, RIL Jamnagar refinery, Chennai metro, western dedicated freight corridor project in Rajasthan.

What is the scenario with regard to the availability of skilled operators / maintenance technicians?

There is immense shortage of skilled operators in the industry, as the equipments are highly capital intensive we can only work with
skilled and experienced operators which are a must to avoid any accidents and to ensure proper use of machinery.

We try and retain our experienced crew by providing them with financial and other incentives such as health insurance, ample time off etc.

How matured are the end-user segments in terms of opting advanced and feature-rich equipment and machinery?

Nowadays, mostly all buyers have become very matured in terms of doing their due diligence regarding getting the most advanced crane and value for their capital.

If you have a crane which is technically superior to your competition, you will always get first preference.

What are the key factors while buying a new crane?

We buy our cranes from the OEM companies as well as importers/traders who import cranes from other countries. We are always on the lookout for latest model cranes which suit our budget.

The factors which we consider are:

• First and foremost is the cost of the crane
• Availability of spares / service engineers
• Life of the crane – some cranes easily work for 15 years with good maintenance
• Market feedback of the brand/model/crane from other users Past experience with the brand Resale value

As a service provider what are the major challenges that you face?

As a crane rental company, the whole landscape of the business has totally changed during the past five years. There are major issues
which are faced by us, some of
them are:

• Increase in rate of GST – this has led to increase in working capital
• Late payments from clients

Fall in rental prices due to stiff competition

• Unavailability of skilled operators

Demand has also been slow due to limited projects. This has started to improve now.

Brief us on the major advantages of crane renting? 

All major EPC and infrastructure companies prefer renting than owning as it is highly beneficial to them. Renting saves the initial capital investment, which runs into crores of rupees. One can save the repair, maintenance and insurance cost, and salary of operating crew is also in the rental company’s scope. One needn’t pay the depreciation cost. Our customer can be project specific – rent cranes as per the
project suitability. One doesn’t have to deal with the issues of equipment storage and safety.

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