Major global and leading Asian regional construction and quarrying equipment manufacturers are bullish about unit demand within the Indian market. Their heightened optimism was reflected in the volume of new model launches at bauma Conexpo India 2018. Partha Pratim Basistha reports.
The fifth edition of
Volvo Construction Equipment India (Volvo CE India) displayed its new L90Gz wheeled loader. According to Surat Mehta, head of SDLG’s India business, the 5-tonne class model is well suited to work with 200-250tonnes/hour crushing plants and for railway wagon loading applications.
He added: “The loader, with axle, transmission and Volvo D6e engines from Germany, is seven per cent more fuel efficient [than its predecessor] and delivers 10 per cent higher breakout force. One of the features of the engine in accordance with Volvo’s engine standards is that it develops high torque at low RPM, enabling excellent load carrying capabilities, thus saving on fuel consumption. Higher operational efficiency of the wheeled loader is contributed by the high breakout torque throughout the working range, excellent bucket rollback, parallel lift, better fill factor and low centre of gravity for superior load carrying operations.” Mehta said the new L90Gz wheeled loader will be imported from Volvo CE’s China assembly plant.
Volvo CE India also displayed its new L958F wheeled loader. “The loader comes with a larger bucket, new improved cabin for better operator’s visibility and altogether robust structure will be offered for wagon loading and ports material handling,” explained Mehta.
Hyundai Heavy Industries India (Hyundai India) showcased its new HL 635 3-tonne wheeled loader. The loader will be imported from Hyundai’s China facility and assembled in India at the company’s Chakan plant in Pune. The product is said to be ideal for working with 200-300tonnes/hour crushing units and within the ready-mixed concrete industry.
India’s wheeled loader market, a modest 1,000 unit sales/year a few years back, is expected to expand to 3,000 unit sales/year. Hyundai India is targeting sales of 40-50 units of its loaders. “The wheeled loader market in India is seeing good demand with many manufacturers offering high-tech products. We are confident of getting a sizeable share of the pie in this growing space with our price-competitive, reliable, fuel-efficient and intelligent wheeled loaders,” said Anup Nair, vice president and business head, Hyundai India.
The company plans to expand its excavator business in India, which is projected to grow to 35,000 units. Nair added: “Hyundai has been operating in India since 2008 and has seen rapid business growth with an active fleet of 20,000 8-51 tonne units, taking our market share to 20 per cent in the 20-tonne class range. We are now ramping up our excavator production from 6,000 units to 10,000 units by 2023 by adding a fully automated assembly line. We have earmarked an investment of Rs 300 crores for the expansion. We will also export excavators to Southeast Asian market customers from this facility.
“Hyundai India has set up a 1,393m² global R&D and training centre in Hinjewadi, Pune. The R&D team is working with engine manufacturers to meet the 2021 emission norms, and to develop higher productivity and fuel-efficient excavators for price-sensitive Indian customers. Hyundai India will also introduce 30 tonne and above international models of excavators.”
Sany Heavy Industries India (Sany India) launched its new SY215C-9 21 tonne and SY230LC-9H 23 tonne hydraulic excavators during bC India 2018. The excavators feature Dynamic Optimisation Matching Control System (DOMCS), which matches engine output and external load demand to ensure better fuel efficiency, reinforced front attachments, strengthened upper structure and robust undercarriage. The models’ cabin also offers wider visibility and easy access to switches.
“All the products are designed to stay true to the company’s focus on quality, technologically advanced design, fuel efficiency, superior performance, high reliability and digitalization,” said Deepak Garg, CEO, Sany Group, India and South Asia. “I am confident that Sany will soon be among the top three players in the industry with its ultra-modern and global quality products, strong dealer network, and state-of-the-art [Pune] manufacturing facility.”
Doosan Bobcat India is making a big push to capture greater market share in the growing Indian compressor market with its medium-and high-capacity compressors, ranging between 400 and 650 CFM. “Our compressors are highly suitable for big quarry and limestone sites, which demand high productivity at higher pressure along with fuel economy,” said B.S Srinivas, director - Portable Power & Compressors.
Doosan’s P 260, P 315, P 360 and P 415 models have an operating pressure of 100psi, making them suitable for quarrying applications, for use with jack hammers and for shot blasting applications.
“The high performance of our compressors is due to the design of the screw air end, a rugged enclosure designed for dusty environments, a cool box design for maintaining low temperature inside the box, air filters mounted with pre-cleaners, maintenance-free batteries, and wide doors for ease of service.” added Srinivas. Doosan compressors come with an option of Indian Ashok Leyland and Cummins engines.
Eyeing huge potential in the Indian tracked crushing and screening market, Keestrack, the Belgian tracked crusher and allied equipment manufacturer, showcased its B4e hybrid diesel electric jaw crusher. The company has drawn a broad business roadmap to tap the growing Indian tracked crushers market – both in the construction aggregates and mining segments.
Michael Brookshaw, Keestrack global distribution manager, said: “We are setting up a new plant at Neemrana [Rajasthan, northern India] for manufacturing our tracked solutions. In conjunction with this, we are creating a very competent Indian team, placing great emphasis on training our associates and distributors so that they can extend the right product support to the customers.” The Neemrana-based plant was commissioned in January 2019, and the first product is due to be manufactured in April 2019.
Swapan Das, managing director of Keestrack’s Indian venture, eTrack Crushers, added: “The machines from the Indian factory will be re-engineered for Indian applications, taking into consideration rock and climatic characteristics and operation methods. However, the overall unique character of the machinery will be kept intact. The reason for choosing Neemrana for setting up our plant is because the area possesses a sound vendor base in the region, catering to a large number of heavy construction and mining equipment manufacturers including JCB India and Metso, along with many allied sub-system manufacturing companies producing conveyors, hydraulic components, castings and rubber parts.”
Peter Hoogendoorn, from the Hoogendoorn family which owns Keestrack Group and a director within the company’s Indian venture, said: “We are very convinced about the opportunities and growth that India offers as one of the future major markets globally. The new Indian plant’s manufacturing standards will be on a par with the company’s European manufacturing facilities and will be enhanced further in time.”
Keestrack aims to sell 25-30 mobile track-mounted units, including jaw crushers, cone crushers and screeners, made at the new Indian facility over the course of the next year. The firm also plans to export Indian-manufactured models to other Asian countries, as well as countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Volvo Penta is looking to benefit from rising demand in India for track-mounted crushers. “Their higher levels of mobility, low operating costs and faster set-up times make them suitable for road contractors requiring crushed granular sub base materials close to construction sites. The rising demand is likely to catalyze demand for our engines,” said Miron Thoms, vice president & head of Volvo Penta India. Volvo Penta has recently supplied its engines for the tracked crushing and screening units of Indian crushing equipment major Puzzolana Machinery Fabricators.
Thoms continued: “To ensure more efficient performance of the diesel hydraulic driveline, our application team is working in close association with the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to minimise total cost of ownership, and improvisations are being considered for installation flexibility, ease of maintenance and higher uptime of the engines through extended interval schedules.”
Marsman India, a Nashik, Western India-based crusher and screener manufacturer and major exporter of crusher boxes to European manufacturers, plans to enter the demolition waste recycling business.
“Though the market of demolition waste recycling is moderate in India, we do see its potential due to the government’s emphasis on urban renewal through setting up smart cities,” explains Ravi Varma, managing director, Marsman India. “Demand for manufactured sand is also growing so we are promoting our 100 and 300 tonnes per hour vertical shaft impactors (VSIs) more aggressively, along with our washing solutions that use less water.”
Marsman has recently introduced its new range of PJC 30”x 20”, PJC 44”x 33”, PJC 48”x 38” primary jaw crushers and SJC 42”x 09” secondary jaw crusher. The new jaw crushers have a more advanced design: they are fitted with hub and sleeve, making the withdrawal process easier. They also feature hydraulic systems for setting the jaw plate to gain the desired output material.
Marsman is also keen to broaden its presence in mobile plants. Varma added: “Our impactor, jaw and screens have been finding a favourable response in India and abroad. Demand for mobile crushing plants have gone up due to their easy transport from site to site, and a standard designed plant can be erected, commissioned and dismantled in a very short time, which is also a big advantage.”
Southern India-based crushing and screening manufacturing major, Proman Infrastructure Services (Proman), exhibited its new range of 250-400tonnes/hour high-capacity cone crushers PROcone 5010 and PROcone 4510. “This new range is ideal for use in north India due to the region’s higher productivity requirements in two-stage production configuration. They can be used with VSIs in a two-stage plant, and as part of a three-stage plant alongside VSIs and a screener. With both the combinations, the PROcones can deliver -20 mm of aggregates,” said Proman managing director, R S Raghavan.
For higher optimisation of its crushing plants, Proman is offering new mortar production solutions. Made under technical collaboration with Spanish firm Sotecma, the mortar plant in 35 and 45tonnes/hour variants can be coupled as an extension to the crushing plant. It comes with bins, with the sand drawn from the VSI sieved and mixed proportionately and added with additives for preparation of the mortar.
According to Raghavan, the final product coming out of the plant can be bagged and commercially sold through cement and building hardware dealers and used to fix tiles, or for plastering and other jobs. “This will ensure more viability of the crushing plant in the highly competitive Indian aggregates market,” he emphasised.
Pune, western India-based Indus Rock Tools showcased a series of new products for primary and secondary surface rock breaking requirements. This included the company’s new heavy-duty RB 7580 hydraulic rock breaker, compatible with 70-100tonne excavators. “The new generation heavy breakers have a high impact rate of 300-400bpm, making them most suitable for demolition work, recycling, mining, construction and quarrying applications in iron ore and limestone mining,” said Jatinder K. Jain, director, Indus Rock Tools (Indus).
Indus’s new MS 600 medium-capacity hydraulic rock breaker, suitable for 20-28 tonne class excavators, was also on show. With an impact rate of 300-500 bmp, it has features similar to the RB 7580 rock breaker.
For the granite and marble mining sectors, Indus showcased its new IRB 220 TOE pneumatic, self-contained, crawler drill, powered by a turbo-charged Indian Ashok Leyland engine. It comes with a rod length of six feet with a hole diameter of 115mm and 9.1m hole depth.
Jain said: “This machine is suitable for large quarry owners as it is designed to work up to 300psi working pressure compressor. The drill, with a heavy-duty hydraulic feed and rotation system, has an automatic tow drill changing provision, which is an added feature. We are offering five variants of the pneumatic drill for varied applications.”
Indus also showcased a new Hartl bucket crusher and screener. The company has entered into a joint venture with the Austrian firm for manufacturing bucket crushers and screeners in India under a Make in India Commitment initiative. Production will commence by mid-2019. The products will be marketed and exported from India, and Indus has already placed a few Hartl bucket crusher orders.
With their Hardox material centralised lubrication system, the buckets are said to be ideal for crushing materials such as granite, basalt, gypsum and limestone. The Hartl bucket crushers have capacities ranging between 0.60 to 1.53m³ and are compatible with 10-50 tonne class excavators.
