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As a major player in heavy-duty mobile cranes market in India, TIL has consolidated its presence over the years. <p></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anil Bhatia, Vice President-Sales &amp; Marketing, TIL,</span> shares more.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current market scenario:</span> The mobile cranes industry has been slightly different from other equipment segments. If we look at the market dynamics, 4-5 years back, it was 75 per cent used equipment and 25 per cent brand new. With the government and big construction contractors insisting on not to use older equipment of 10 years and more, the market ratio started changing and today it is about 60 per cent used and 40 per cent new equipment. Going forward, this ratio is going to improve further towards more new equipment. The new developments in emission norms have also influenced this trend. </p><p>For us, this financial year has been good with a healthy order backlog. We foresee the trend to continue for the next 2-3 years at least, because the earnings are growing even though more international players are coming into the market. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market opportunities: </span>Our equipment mainly go into metro projects, railways, refineries, power plants, cement plants and mining. Also in road sector, wherever there are bridges and there is a need for lifting girders, cranes are being used. Unlike any other sectors where very high percentage of equipment are financed by NBFCs, in our case about 90-95 per cent of funding is done through banks having the advantages of strong balance sheets and best interest rates. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Major challenges: </span>The challenge we are looking at currently is that how fast the share of new equipment can grow in the market. We expect that all the rules and regulations regarding the import of used equipment should be implemented in total so that we expect by 2022-23, the market share of new equipment should be 80 per cent. This will pose a huge market for all the crane manufacturers. Also, government's plan to spend Rs 100 trillion in the infrastructure projects in the next five years will trigger further opportunity for companies in the infrastructure equipment space. With the increased demand we have to gear up for the supply to come in.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enhancing productivity:</span> Our equipment are big in size and capacity, and we have moved on to the platform of internet of things (IoT), using telemetry in our reach stackers and newly launched RT880. Safety is paramount in our industry and the industry has moved into digitalisation. Modern electronic safe load indicators with digital technology have been inducted since early 1990s. TIL has also adopted automation wherever necessary in a proactive manner such as computerised operations, sensors and other digital aids for safe operation of the machine. However, at the end of the day, the capability of the operator goes a long way in keeping the man and machine safe.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Operator training initiatives:</span> Every crane we sell is a high-value equipment. Whenever we sell an equipment, we conduct a three-day programme where we do the commissioning and training the operator. In fact, many of the customers send their operators to our factory, before taking delivery of the equipment where the operator has been given training there itself at the time of testing. Even after the equipment has been supplied, most of the customers ask for operator training refresher courses at sites. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Product display at Excon: </span>We have two new products on display. One is RT 880, an 80-tonne rough terrain crane with long boom of 43.8 m with 17.1 m jib on top of it, crossing 60 m height. The telematics system in this crane is the latest generation Cloud connected machine monitoring solution which captures comprehensive machine data including location details, usage and service information. Being stored in Cloud database, the data is accessible from anywhere in the world and enables remote diagnostics and updates. Another one is a new range of 360o slew pick-and-carry crane, Mobiload 415. It is a hybrid model of RT and pick-and-carry crane, making it a true pick-and-carry crane with 100 per cent safety. </p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Growth plans: </span>We are expecting our topline to grow significantly this year and in fiscal 2021. Our focus on defence and export business is seeing positive outcome and we expect it will yield even better growth next year, adding further to our topline.</p><p></p>