Voltas Limited’s Mining & Construction Equipment Division, which changed its business model about a year back, is today offering total service solutions for the entire mining fleet of select customers. Going forward, the company will concentrate on the products it is a dealer for, like the Terex power screens and LeeBoy graders as well as the Belaz heavy duty mining trucks, being its service dealer. Voltas India focuses primarily on the coal and iron ore mining sectors and is targeting a topline of `300 crore in 2 years’ time. Moreover, with the Odisha state government set to re-auction mines in 2020, Sharad Thussu, Vice- President, Voltas Limited, Mining & Construction Equipment Division, tells Madhumita Mookerji, there will be huge demand for equipment for iron ore mining, post-2020. However, he adds, the push from the iron ore mining space will come only from Odisha with moderate growth expected from other iron ore-rich areas like Bellary (in Karnataka) and Goa. Excerpts from an interview:
Overall, how was the market for the mining equipment industry in 2017? Was there any improvement seen in 2018?
In 2017, the equipment tenders were floated by the public sector coal producers in India in large numbers. Tenders had been floated for these massive Belaz trucks manufactured in Belarus. There were tenders for a lot of rope shovels and hydraulic excavators as well. So, these coal majors have shown their intent very clearly of buying equipment in the last one year. And, I think, the execution of these tenders will happen now. Therefore, 2018 will be primarily a year of purchase and the suppliers will benefit greatly.
Where private mining is concerned, the large-sized equipment are generally not used by the private miners except for maybe a few players. Private mining as such has not started. What is happening is that sub-contracts for overburden removal are being given to subcontractors. That is the role of private mining contractors at present. Except for one player, we have not seen private mining picking up in any of the coal blocks that got cancelled. Private mining is prevalent in the iron ore sector and I think that is going to remain steady and will continue.
To come to Voltas, how was the year gone by?
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