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Backhoe loaders are going to see a strong comeback with infrastructure projects going strong

The construction equipment sector in India is growing at a faster pace, driven by the huge investments being made by the government and the private sector in infrastructure development. In fact, the overall Indian construction equipment market is expected to grow by a CAGR of 6.2% backed by infrastructure spending estimated to be about 10% of GDP during the current five year plan.

At present, the construction equipment sector is mainly dominated by backhoe loaders (more than 40% of total demand) but broad-based growth is expected across products, with each segment expected to see growth. Particularly, the demand for backhoe loaders is expected to grow as it is a versatile machine and can be employed for numerous applications at the job site. The BHL industry in past two years has grown consecutively over 20% year-on-year basis.

Manish Handa, business head (EED vertical), Action Construction Equipment (ACE), says, “India is going through a turnaround phase of its infrastructure development and backhoe loaders, the machine which is known for its versatility, always takes centre stage. The affordable housing, smart city and road development in rural areas will together play a stellar role in increasing the demand for construction equipment, especially backhoes.” According to Handa, the major sectors driving this growth are:

Urban Infrastructure such as metro projects across various Tier-I & Tier-II cities, freight corridors, airport expansion & modernisation, Clean India and smart city projects across the country

Infrastructure development including road sector development along (Bharatmala Project) with flyovers & bridge construction across the country

Refinery expansion

Affordable housing projects under PMAY

(Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna).