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Mitsubishi manufactures diesel engines of up to 50 hp in India, and capitalised well in the tractor segment. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kenji Kawamoto, Managing Director, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-VST Diesel Engines, </span>shares more on the emerging trends in the market and the opportunities in construction equipment segment. <p></p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the current trend of off-road diesel engines market in India? </span><br />While the construction equipment (CE) and tractor industries keep growing, generator market becomes more dependent on stand-by needs as power availability improved substantially in recent time. You cannot see sudden surge in genset market nowadays like earlier. There are two main reasons. Power distribution and availability improved significantly. Secondly, the telecom sector shifted to steady path, as new tower installations are very limited. However, there is a good opportunity keep coming for larger DG sets (above 500 kVA), as the government is keen on developing infrastructure across the country. Road construction at higher rate, metro projects, smart cities, and airports in B-towns are few examples. </p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">How do you see the demand trend for diesel engines from CE segment?</span><br />Demand from construction equipment segment is consistently growing, as the number of equipment sold in the market keeps increasing year after year. Most of the equipment manufacturers have already enhanced their production capacity. However, there may be temporary slowdown due to election and upcoming change in emission norms.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the new products and solutions from you for off-highway equipment? </span> <br /> Our latest product is D03CJ, 36 kW engine - powerful package with all the features you need to meet the world's toughest emission standards. It is Tier IV final approved for the US, and can meet EU Stage V for Europe. When we launched it during bauma 2018, some expressed is there a need for such advanced solution now in India. I say yes, because now India is becoming the global production base for many international OEMs. Also, OEMs based in India started exporting their machines in large numbers to developed countries. So, when you localise or make a new product for export market, definitely there is a need of suitable engine to meet what is required in destination market. In future, nothing will stay behind in India too! The government is trying to adapt tougher norms more quickly than ever. So no surprise, you may need this engine for Indian industry also very soon.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the features off-highway OEM customers looking for? </span><br />ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±¼Ç¼ manufacturers keep digitising their equipment to help the operator to do the work more precisely and efficiently. Whereas, if we see the diesel engine alone, all new features and technologies introduced are mainly to meet emission norms, though it can also have impact on fuel efficiency and power-to-weight ratio.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">OEMs are now looking for electric power as an alternative to diesel power for compact equipment to reduce carbon emission. While globally this has started, how do you see the trend in Indian market? Will this affect diesel engines market in the off-highway segment?</span><br />While electric power is trending since long time, the progress happened in the last two years across the globe is remarkable. Automotive industry is adapting this change more quickly. Off-highway industry is still far behind. There are some bold moves from a few OEMs outside India. One even announced during electrical equipment launch that they would discontinue the development of diesel variant. But, everything as of now is for the market outside India. Hence, it is too early to have any impact here.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">How do the design and features change in order to meet the next level of emission regulations? How are you prepared to meet the new requirements? </span><br />The major change area is how to treat the harmful exhaust gases better than before. In relation with this, we may also have to modify the fuel injection and combustion system to maximise the combustion efficiency. However, it is said easier than done. Our design team in India and MHIET Japan closely work on these things and we are now prepared to meet the new norms without much change in our current line-up.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the major challenges you face in meeting the emission requirements?</span><br />Our existing product range does not require any complicated after-treatment systems to meet next emission levels. The change is mainly on fuel systems in most cases. Challenge is developing such parts in short period of time, validate them, then certify engine and effect the change in regular production. So far, we could make all this on time for all the export norm changes, with our strenuous efforts and technical backup from our parent company MHIET Japan. We are confident of continuing the same in future changes too.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">How do you see new opportunities in these challenging situations?</span><br />Our plant in India produces engines of up to 50 hp at present, and we have capitalised well in tractor market as this range covers the major portion of Indian tractor industry. Today, we are the preferred engine partner for Orchard Tractors. And with that success, we are working on many other tractor projects too. In construction equipment industry also, the above range of engines can cater well to the equipment like mini excavators, light towers, site dumpers and so on. But annual market size of such equipment is just in hundreds and many of them are imported now. We are confident that this scenario will change when the country keeps developing its infrastructure. Also, customers are now more aware on what kind of equipment they need. Earlier, backhoe loader was the all-rounder for any earthmoving work in cities, but now you can see some mini excavators also on the job sites. So, there is a lot of scope to grow in this segment and we have ready solution for OEMs who plan to develop such machines in India. </p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What is the way forward for diesel engines in the off-highway market? </span><br />Construction equipment market in India is expected to continue its growth story. The market mainly driven by backhoe loaders earlier is now gradually diversifying in to all equipment types in the last few years. This shows there is a scope for each equipment segment when market evolves further. This is visible already, as equipment manufacturers are also launching a lot of new products in the segment where they were not active earlier. This will keep up the momentum for diesel engines too. However, the growth may be limited temporarily due to new emission norm transition. Because it is not just about certifying engine, but also about integrating to the equipment and making sure that the expected performance is delivered. This will take some time.</p>