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The demand for hydraulic cranes in India is now steadily picking up.

The demand for hydraulic cranes in India is now steadily picking up. The industry too is gearing itself at all levels for another overdrive. Shyamal Asangi reports.

Highly competitive and fragmented, the Indian hydraulic crane industry currently is estimated to be over Rs1200 crore. This market too was affected by the economic turmoil that started in mid 2008 but now there have been signs of revival.

Commenting on the overall scenario, Rajesh Sharma, associate VP, marketing & sales, Escorts Construction Equipment Ltd says that the demand for cranes is heavily linked to the activity levels in infrastructure, construction and the industrial sectors.
 

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Sharma reminds that the industry had been in overdrive for almost a decade till the recession hit and witnessed a dip in demand there after as the projects in the application sectors were stalled, scaled down or postponed.

The impact was more enhanced in private sector projects, he says. Of course, he is quite optimistic now since the market has started showing signs of recovery from January this year.

Boom before the bust
As mentioned earlier, the demand for hydraulic cranes was very high before the slowdown started. This high demand was mainly due to the amazing growth rate of nearly 100% witnessed by the three main industries where hydraulic cranes are mostly used i.e. construction, mining and infrastructure.

Huge investments and intense activities in the infrastructure industry, especially in the power sector generated the demand for material handling equipment such as hydraulic cranes.

Market mix
The Indian market has been dominated by the ‘pick and carry’ cranes due to the familiarity of the concept and the fact that these cranes provide a cost effective and versatile lifting solution.

However, the fast changing dynamics - on account of up-scaling of projects and heightened emphasis on safety - are opening up the opportunities for technologically upgraded solutions such as telescoping slewing cranes of various varieties like yard, rough terrain (RT), truck and all terrain.

The market has over 90 players but it is primarily dominated by the big three players Escorts, Voltas and Tractors India Ltd.