FCC

Why is India Buying Bigger Cranes?

2023-08-24

Fast-paced growth in the infrastructure sector and urbanisation are spurring demand for high-capacity cranes. So much so that Karan Gandhi, Executive Director, Express Equipment Rental & Logistics, believes that high-capacity cranes are the future of Indian markets.

“The increasing complexity of construction and infrastructure projects will further increase the demand for specialised cranes with advanced capabilities, such as heavy lifting and precise positioning,” he says. “For instance, projects in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City drove demand for tower cranes and high-capacity crawler/mobile cranes to build and install tall structures.”

The sort of infrastructure projects being executed in India today are demanding higher-capacity cranes, agrees Praveen Sharma, Managing Director, ABC Infra. For instance, he points out that a 1,200-t crawler crane was operated jointly with a 700-t model and several 100-t/80-t cranes to lift loads upwards of 1,150 t while setting up Pachpadra Oil Refinery in Rajasthan. Other refinery projects in Panipat and Paradip, petrochemical projects and steel plant projects are driving this demand.

Additionally, the growing number of suppliers and crane models, their affordability and favourable credit terms and delivery timelines offered by Chinese players are also helping to boost demand for high-capacity cranes, says Sharma. “The Indian market is more spontaneous than other overseas markets; here, customers can’t really wait very long before taking delivery of a crane.”

Super tonnage cranes

The super tonnage 800-t crane segment market is expected to increase from about 10 units last year to 40+ units by the end of the ongoing year, observes Danish Kamal Lari, Business Director, Zoomlion India. “These models are typically imported.”

Behind this increase in demand, as Lari explains, are renewable energy power projects aiming to create 500 GW capacity of non-fossil fuel-based electricity by 2030 and fast growth in the steel and cement sectors. “With the Government encouraging Navratna companies to buy electricity from renewable sources to lower their carbon footprint, the wind energy sector especially is attracting many large companies and hence boosting demand for large cranes.”