28 December 2017 12:00 am
By Claude Gunasekera
“We are poised to enter a new era in the manufacturing glory with a great value offering the best quality and after sales care,” said Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister R.V. Deshpande, at the inauguration of EXCON 2017, South Asia’s largest construction equipment exhibition held in Bangalore, India from December 12th to 16th.
“Indian machinery and equipment manufacturers should focus heavily on the international markets and emphasised that they should build-up close relationships with neighboring countries, by offering special incentives to support their national developments and grow together hand in hand,” said Heavy Industries and Public Sector Enterprises Union Minister Shri Anant G. Geete, who graced the occasion as Chief Guest.
Addressing the inauguration Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) President Shobana Kamineni said that Indian construction equipment sector grew by 32 percent during 2016 to 2017 experiencing an unprecedented growth. She said the industry is expecting to reach US$5 billion by 2020 with an annual growth rate of eight percent in the coming years. She further said that India is undeniably on a growth trajectory, which rides on the back of infrastructure.
EXCON 2017 Chairman Vipin Sondhi, highlighting the theme of the exhibition explained that ‘Smart technology fueling the next generation infrastructure’ perfectly aligns with any national development objective while contributing significantly to the economic development.
National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayong (Government of India)) CEO Amitabh Kant and CII Director General Chandrajit Benerjee also spoke at the inauguration.
Over 1,000 giants in the construction equipment manufacturing industry took part in this exhibition. Companies from over 20 countries exhibited their products while many new products were launched during this period. A massive participation from around the world was seen throughout the period of exhibition.
It was held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bengaluru, India. The event was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in sector partnership with Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association and hosted by the Government of Karnataka.