ÑÇÖÞÎÞÂë

<span style="font-weight: bold;">Souma Ray, Director, Haulotte India.</span><p></p><p> The market scenario of access equipment industry continues to be flat. As major manufacturers, we always hope that the market evolves and matures, but regret it hasn't been so over the last few years when we talk about new machines being imported into the country considering the fact that the market being nascent and quantities being low, there are no thoroughbred manufacturers in India. Of course, we are hopeful that with increase in awareness and acceptability of such equipment considering their multifarious usage, the demand will increase in the years to come and growth shall become sustainable. But still we shall have to wait for this maturity to happen.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Market challenges</span><br />The industry as such is still trying to adjust to the new GST regime. Orders are getting postponed at times, especially from the government sector owing to the lack of clarity or misunderstanding of the applicable rates. We know that the government is putting in effort to streamline things, but the issues need to be sorted out on topmost priority. Further, the access industry is still plagued with the challenge of lack of legislation towards safety while working at heights. Also, the undeterred import of old and out-of-life used access equipment which are being offered and used by customers (because of the cheap rates) throwing caution to the wind that usage of such equipment can be a costly mistake and lead to accidents and fatalities.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">A platform of opportunity</span><br />Excon is primarily a major construction equipment fair wherein all the CE manufacturers and even commercial vehicles, material handling equipment manufacturers participate. It is indeed a very important platform for all such manufacturers to showcase their product and the latest technology. Going by the history of Excon, visitors across industries/segments visit the exhibition to witness the evolution of technology.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Key focus</span><br />In this edition of Excon, the CE industry shall be witnessing some new launches and visitors from across the industries shall get an opportunity to see new innovations and changing faces of technology. For sure, there would be footfalls of serious buyers from both the end-user and rental customer segments.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Showcasing innovations</span><br />Our pan India distributor Gemini shall be participating in Excon and shall be showcasing a few Haulotte models targeting largely the end-user segment. There are no specific launches planned for this Excon.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Expectations galore</span><br />CII does put in a lot of efforts in organising Excon every two years and I am sure this year's show shall be a great success. Considering the fact that the whole market has now started to terms with GST, Excon shall deliver a much required push in driving the buyers' confidence. Talking specifically about the access equipment industry, we are hopeful to see an increase in awareness of our products, which is extremely crucial to the growth and development of our industry.</p><p></p>