JCB expects pick up in machinery industry

Construction equipment maker JCB on Wednesday announced its entry into the genset market by introducing diesel generators.

The company said it expected buoyancy in the machinery industry from October this year when the things should start moving.

“After the Budget ,we are expecting that between March and June, the government would invite bids, and contracts would be issued. Then it takes them 3-4 months to mobilise the resources,” JCB India Managing Director and CEO Vipin Sondhi said.

He said that the infrastructure sector is expected to witness a lot of activities after the government’s announcement of an investment of Rs 70,000 crore in the Budget.
Besides, setting up of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund with Rs 20,000 crore will also help in creating demand, he added.

“At the moment expectations on the ground are that it should start moving. The positive part is that lot of progress has happened in terms of removing bottlenecks,” Sondhi added. On its foray into the diesel genset segment in the range of 63 to 100 KV, he said that there is a lot of potential to tap into the Indian market which is growing between 8 to 10 per cent annually.

JCB India has been manufacturing gensets in India for exports from 2013 and will now focus on the domestic market too. It has a capacity to manufacture 2,000 gensets every year.