Interview: Vijaykrishnan Vekatesan, Managing Director. Kennametal India 

Please share an overview of the products you have launched at Excon 2025, along with its key features and the value it offers customers?
We launched a pilot phase of our mobile application at EXCON for ease of tool selection and approach for foundation drilling and road rehabilitation.

Which other products you have showcased at the event and what are the key features of the products?At EXCON 2025, we showcased earth cutting tools and wear-protection solutions for construction and infrastructure applications. The portfolio included foundation drilling tools such as conical tools, weldable teeth, quick-change systems, and accessories for pile boring and diaphragm wall cutters. Road rehabilitation solutions featured the Road King™ and Next-Gen RK Series for consistent cutting and longer wear life. The display also included surface miner picks, trenching and micro-trenching tools, and KenCast™ wear-protection technology, which combines a tungsten carbide layer with a tough steel backing for superior abrasion resistance.

With sustainability becoming a key priority in the mining sector, how are your solutions helping in lower emission, improve efficiency and minimise resource consumption?
Our sustainability efforts span the entire value chain, from recycling tungsten carbide and optimising raw material use to reducing our carbon footprint. We continue to improve energy efficiency across our manufacturing operations and invest in maximising tungsten carbide recovery for reuse in production. These practices align with our environmental standards, while many of our solutions help customers operate more efficiently with a reduced environmental footprint. The construction equipment industry has a clear opportunity to build on this approach by expanding renewable energy use, improving recycling capabilities and accelerating the shift toward circular economy models.

Could you please explain how your products contribute to improve safety, better working conditions and higher productivity across the mining sector?
Our products are designed to deliver superior durability and performance in demanding mining environments. By lasting significantly longer than conventional tools, they require fewer changeovers. In addition, fewer tool changes mean less interruption to operations, which improves overall working conditions by minimizing manual intervention and reducing fatigue.  The extended tool life also translates into higher productivity, as equipment can run longer without downtime, ensuring smoother and more efficient mining processes.