Construction equipment major JCB expects India to become its largest market by revenues by 2018. The company, which has been witnessing a challenging environment in India in the past due to the overall economic slowdown, expects demand to pick up after the monsoons, as the new government is looking to give infrastructure a big push.

Talking to reporters, Lord Bamford, Chairman, JCB Group, said: “We are very positive about India and positive about the Indian government …. India is a very strong part of our business that is involved in designing, making products for India and is also an important manufacturing hub for exports.”

Bamford said: “We expect to see steady growth in India, driven by government policies and the need for better infrastructure with the rise in urbanisation.” Policies, such as the Goods and Services Tax, will be good for India as it is expected to create a level-playing field for businesses, he added.

On the company’s future growth prospects in India, JCB Group CEO Graeme Macdonald said the country has been a very challenging market in the past three years. “But, of all the markets in the world, we are the most optimistic about India and the long-term prospects of the Indian construction equipment market. Our view is we should start to see growth post the monsoons. When it starts, growth will come in very quickly in our industry and that is why we have invested heavily in the past five years, despite the economic slowdown,” he said. India is already the company’s largest market in terms of unit sales. In November last year, the company opened its fourth and fifth plants in Jaipur, Rajasthan, with an investment of about ₹500 crore. Macdonald said that the company expects India to become its largest market in terms of revenues by 2018.

“Right now, 17 per cent of our revenues come from India, which includes exports,” he added. JCB India’s current turnover is pegged at over ₹5,000 crore.

While exports from India have helped it cope with the challenges of soft demand in India, the company believes that given the large manufacturing and design, India will continue to be a key manufacturing hub to serve markets around the world, even as domestic demand picks up.

Product range

On future investment, Macdonald said, “We will continue to invest in new products, ramping up our distribution especially to grow our reach in rural areas where requirements for infrastructure is growing.” While the company plans to double its range of products from the current 46 models in the next few years, it expects to close the year with about 700 dealer outlets and expects to further strengthen its design centre in Pune.

(The writer was in Staffordshire at the invitation of JCB)

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