The ongoing Pandemic has badly battered the economy. Does infrastructure hold the key to revive the Indian economy? Your views
Since the beginning of the Pandemic in 2020, almost every industry in India has been adversely impacted. It has created immense pressure on businesses all over impacting manufacturing, logistics, supply chain and retail. These factors have led to shrinking timelines and increasing cost. However, in order to deal with the various challenges posed by the Pandemic, Government of India has announced various measures and several projects to revive the infrastructure and construction sector.
The government is inviting bids for 1000 kms highway construction worth Rs.50, 000 cr. Discussion is underway to offer relief measures to road contractors and direct-immediate relief for construction sector. The Budget 2021-22 has put a lot of focus on reviving the infrastructure sector. The government’s effort towards further enhancing the roads and highways projects to 7,400 new projects is a welcome step which will ensure a better year for the infrastructure sector as well as for the construction equipment industry. The announcement of introduction of the Development Finance Institution providing Rs. 20,000 crore to launch the National Asset Monetization Pipeline to fund new infra projects, will strengthen the stability of the sector further.
In the financial year 2020-2021, 13,298 kms of highways were constructed in India and the aim is to construct 65,000 kms of national highways with an expenditure of 5.35 lakh crores by the end of 2022. There have been multitude of announcements on the highway projects in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam will further give a much-needed boost to the sector. The government’s vision of committing Rs 1.97 trillion to the manufacturing sector over 5 years will also help the industry immensely. As per ICRA, construction equipment industry is poised to grow by 15-20 per cent in CY2021 after a 10-12 per cent contraction in CY2020, dragged down primarily by the 39 per cent decline in H1 CY2020. Therefore, taking into consideration all these initiatives, we are confident that things will be back on track soon and the infrastructure and construction sector will be one of the key growth drivers for the Indian economy, post Covid.
How are you adapting to the ‘New Normal’ and what are your views on the need to adapt and remould the infra activities as per the New Normal to spur the economy?
At CASE India we have adapted well to the new normal since last year. We are adhering to the social distancing norms and putting safety of our employees and customers first. We’ve started engaging with them on multiple digital platforms and are also creating new avenues to further this interaction. Our dealers are trained digitally, and we’ve also introduced multiple financial offerings to ease the burden for our customers. Adapting to the situation quickly, we worked on all possible measures to ensure safety and well-being of all concerned and at the same time ensuring that productivity and efficiency is not compromised. While at workplace, we adhered to the social distancing norms, sanitized the workplace regularly and started vaccination for all employees, our corporate employees were asked to operate from home immediately and the manpower at our plants were organized into shifts to ensure proper distancing and safety. We continue to engage with all key stakeholders using various digital platforms to keep them updated on measures taken as well as to convey best practices to tackle the situation. We also use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to communicate with all stakeholders. We started using digital technologies to conduct our trainings, claims processes, dealer interactions, etc, to ensure continuity and care. We even managed to launch one of our newest products – a 22-Ton crawler excavator using a virtual platform! A first for all of us at CASE India. Focusing on digital engagement and communication, we conducted webinars to help employees cope up with the mental stress caused during the pandemic and shared information regarding best health practices to follow. We conducted online sessions for breathing techniques, relaxation, yoga, meditation etc. and shared regular mailers with positive thoughts to keep employees motivated.
How can the government handhold the construction equipment sector in this Pandemic time?
In the current times, almost every industry has been hit by the Pandemic and the economic slowdown caused by the same. In such a scenario the various initiatives by the government and relaxations provided to the infrastructure sector can help revive the market and spur growth. The government has been persistently working on making India a manufacturing hub for construction equipment industry and has announced several projects to boost the infrastructure sector. In a recent announcement, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has set the target for 2024 and planned to expand around 60,000 kms of National Highways (NHs) in the next few years. There have been multitude of announcements on the highway projects in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam will further give a much-needed boost to the sector. The government’s vision of committing Rs 1.97 trillion to the manufacturing sector over 5 years will also help the industry immensely.
The Budget 2021-22 has put a lot of focus on reviving the infrastructure sector. The government’s effort towards further enhancing the roads and highways projects to 7,400 new projects is a welcome step which will ensure a better year for the infrastructure sector as well as for the construction equipment industry. The announcement of introduction of the Development Finance Institution providing RS. 20,000 crore to launch the National Asset Monetization Pipeline to fund new infra projects, will strengthen the stability of the sector further. Multiple schemes have been introduced for contractors, daily wagers and people dependant on the construction sector to help them deal with the repercussions of the Pandemic. Therefore, the Government must continue to provide the necessary support to industries, enabling them to function effortlessly and contribute to the overall growth of the economy. This can be in the form of helping corporates procure vaccinations for their employees to create a safe work environment as well as continue with the existing policies and relaxations for unhindered business operations.
Healthcare Infrastructure is fast emerging as the growth driver for the CE industry. How are you leveraging on this opportunity?
At Case we offer a wide variety of products for all types of construction activities. As an organisation we have the necessary capabilities and capacity to procure and locally manufacture machines as per varied customer needs. With an extremely efficient R&D department, local manufacturing facility and hands on experience of using latest technologies, we have the required infrastructure and abilities to meet prospective demand and provide consumers with all types of machines.
What are the finance schemes you offer to suit the varying requirements of the prospective customers?
We have a financial arm present in India called CNHI Capital, which provides a comprehensive range of services, including wholesale and retail equipment financing support for customers in the market place. It enables us to extend an extra line of credit to existing customers who are looking to expand their product line. At CASE we regularly introduce lucrative schemes for our customers, to facilitate product purchase. We have seasonal schemes and product specific schemes as well. Additionally, we extended the warranty period for 60 days to support those customers who could not avail the benefits and the warranty period for their equipment was expiring amid lockdown. The extension of warranty is supported by an increase in warranty claim submission time, late repair time and policy claim requests over a period from 30 days to 90 days. The brand’s warranty helpdesk is fully operational to support customers with their queries. We care about our customers’ business and are always ready to go the extra mile for them.
The Pandemic has further expedited technological advancements such as minimum human intervention. Towards this, what are the R&Ds going on at your end?
Technological advancement has always been an essential part of the CE industry, and now even more so with the challenges faced due to the Pandemic Currently, digitalization is bringing the fourth industrial revolution aka Industry 4.0 in the country. It is revolutionizing the manufacturing industry by bringing automation and emerging technologies such as IoT, digitization, etc, together to create smart tools and factories for the future. The companies in the sector, in a bid to thrive in the future, have become more agile and foresighted as well. Incorporation of newer technologies such as IoT, AI and automation in construction equipment industry will drive the trends in the near future. Further, machines that are user friendly, help in efficiently completing the job well in time are the ones that will drive sales.
Globally, CASE has introduced a lot of futuristic product concepts which are loaded with advanced technological features like Project TETRA a methane-powered wheel loader concept made with the vision of sustainable construction and an Autonomous tractor concept which is a completely driverless, remotely controlled equipment which can increase a working day to a full 24 hours thereby increasing productivity. Over the period of time, as the infrastructure of the company allows, we plan to introduce such technologies in India as well.
In India, we already offer a range of features like CIHS, telematics, etc in our equipment which helps in managing quality and execution. CASE Intelligent Hydraulic System (CIHS) in-built in excavator improves fuel efficiency and provides smooth control. Whereas our renowned Eagle-Eye-Telematics solution equipped with BOSCH technology, is a real time vehicle tracking and communication system based on GPS technology which helps in monitoring the performance, security and efficiency of the equipment. It provides live tracking for the operating machines and assists in geo fencing — by setting a predefined area on a map beyond which the machine doesn’t work. We also launched a SiteWatch technology platform with an all-new innovative dashboard, more intuitive navigation and new overview sections that spotlight critical information without requiring the user to search extensively for the data.
It is a part of our DNA to incorporate advanced technologies that can further enhance the efficiency of the machine. Moreover, R&D is an important part of any advancement and this pandemic will drive the need for superior machines to increase sustainability of businesses overall.
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