CASE lines up $20 million investment for next 18 months on new product launches

Pointing out that CASE Construction Equipment in India is growing in line with the industry, Chaturvedi said there are some specific segments in which the company is going faster.

Construction equipment maker CASE has lined up a USD 20-million investment for the next one and a half years for new product launches and bringing its product range in line with the current and upcoming emission norms, a top company executive has said.

CASE Construction Equipment — a brand under the New York Stock Exchange-listed capital goods firm CNH Industrial — sounded bullish on the sector, which is projected to see 18-20 per cent growth this fiscal. “We already have an outlay of USD 20 million in the next one to one and a half years in our construction equipment business,” Shalabh Chaturvedi, Managing Director, CASE Construction Equipment for India and SAARC Region, told PTI.

The company is present majorly in loader backhoes and excavator segments, along with motor graders, wheel loaders, vibratory compaction rollers, and rough-terrain forklifts, among others. Chaturvedi said since 2011, the company has made significant investments in India operations to grow its construction equipment product line. “We have spent more than USD 200 million in terms of investment. And in the last two years (alone), we specifically made about USD 40 million of investment,” he said.

Chaturvedi said this investment will go towards making the products BS-V compliant. Noting that the construction equipment industry has been growing quite well for the last two financial years after the pandemic, he said this year also, the industry should see 18-20 per cent growth. The total industry volume stood at 1 lakh units in 2022, according to the company, and it is estimated to touch 2,50,000 equipment by 2030, a 2.5x growth in a period of the next eight years.

Pointing out that CASE Construction Equipment in India is growing in line with the industry, Chaturvedi said there are some specific segments in which the company is going faster. “We are a strong player in the backhoe loader segment, where we continue to invest more and consolidate our position,” he said. He said steer loaders, a new product line and are up for production from next year, will open up the real estate sector for the company. In the vibratory compactors segment, the company is the market leader with almost two-thirds of the share, he said.

Factors such as the pace of road construction — just not of the new roads but also the widening of the existing ones — are driving equipment demand, Chaturvedi said. “We are seeing some marquee projects like Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor, the Bharatmala project or the Trans Harbour Line in Mumbai are also acquiring a lot of construction equipment. So, those kinds of road projects are a big driver. Apart from that, there are a lot of welfare schemes that are running right now, driving the demand further,” he added.