Construction in top gear, equipment sales eye new highs
Sales of construction equipment — a barometer of economic activity — is expected to grow in strong double-digits for the second straight year to a record this financial year spurred by increased government spending on infrastructure development, ahead of general elections next year, said three of the country's leading construction equipment makers.
Sales of construction equipment have risen by nearly a fifth since April and are likely to close the year at 125,000-130,000 units, breaching the previous peak of 107,779 units in FY23, said Dimitrov Krishnan, head of Volvo CE India.
Prior to this, construction equipment makers had reported record sales of 98,000 units in the pre-pandemic year of FY19.
«Among major markets (for construction equipment), while North America is still growing, China is a big problem with sales declining 50% this year.
India, by far, is the fastest growing (one),» said Alexander Markov, vice president — CASE Construction Equipment, APAC and AME, adding, «The push towards infrastructure development is the cornerstone for growth in the country.»
The Centre increased capital outlay on infrastructure development by a third to a record ₹10 lakh crore in the current financial year, amounting to 3.3% of the GDP.
While the allocation towards road construction was raised to Rs 2.7 lakh crore, the outlay was additionally increased for building tracks, reviving 50 additional airports, heliports, and advance landing grounds to enhance regional air connectivity.
Overall, India has set an ambitious aim of spending ₹143 lakh crore to develop infrastructure over seven fiscal years through 2030, double of the ₹63 lakh crore spent in the previous seven years starting 2017, credit rating agency CRISIL said in a
