Make in India�, ‘Be in India� or ‘Should have been
in India� statements are echoing as German
manufacturers advocate ‘hang on in India� and
Indian exporters find much easier acceptance of their
quality and products across European markets.
During the recent bauma in Munich, ASAPP Info
Global Group (the publishers of CONSTRUCTION
WORLD) exhibited and spoke to several international
and Indian manufacturers (see photo feature on
page 96). India’s infrastructure spend is definitely
making waves across the globe and even the
construction equipment (CE) industry has raced from
a $ 3.5 billion industry in 2014 to a $ 9.5 billion
industry in the past ten years. Yes, it is a dichotomy of
sorts where on one hand, we have a high surge of
investments and mega-scale projects announced and
delivered, and on the other, we have announcements
of strikes by contractors for non-payment in states
like Karnataka and Maharashtra.
However, our manufacturing has surely received a
validation of sorts in terms of perception with the
huge haul of 600 tonne of iPhone exports that India
managed to pull off before the US tariff deadline.
According to reports, Apple plans to shift all its
manufacturing of iPhones for the US market to India Wipro Hydraulics figures among the global top
three,� informed Sitaram Ganeshan, the company’s
president. The company stands as one of the world’s
largest independent hydraulic cylinder manufacturer,
delivering over 1 million cylinders to OEMs globally.
The CE industry now is comfortably exporting
products to Europe and the US and there are no
red flags or concerns regarding our quality. The
volatility in global trade will make it vital for India to
escalate the shift in quality such that it is more
permanent than ever.
Closer home, there are concerns as to whether
government spending will be muted given that our
GDP is forecasted to grow at 6.3 per cent against an
earlier forecast of 6.5 per cent. For his part, speaking
in Washington DC, the RBI Governor maintained the
6.5 per cent figure. And states like Maharashtra are
targeting a 7.3 per cent growth. Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis has committed to making it a
trillion-dollar economy by 2030. Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan are planning to borrow well to keep their
growth engines chugging.
Indeed, infrastructure developments in
Maharashtra are likely to pave the way for a high
growth economy. The Maharashtra government is
planning to raise $ 50 billion in three to four months to
invest in various infrastructure and development
projects in the state. The Navi Mumbai International
Airport (NMIA), to be inaugurated next month, follows
the Coastal Road Project launch, which followed the
Atal Setu launch, while the Maha Samruddhi Marg is
nearing completion. These and other projects have all
been built owing to investments of $ 30 billion between
2014 and 2019. The state’s connectivity projects like
the Bandra-Worli Sea Link are now being extended
even beyond Versova and Virar.
Further, there are plans to develop the NAINA
region, which includes NMIA as the Third Mumbai.
Then, there is the development of Vadhwan Port
and airport. CM Fadnavis recently stated that the
bullet train will be operational by 2028. From
Vadhwan Port, it would reach Bandra-Kurla Complex,
Mumbai’s financial district, in 20 minutes, he said.
He added that a new airport in Vadhwan would be
operational to increase the capability of the port.
“We also plan to build an edu-city, health city and
innovation city as part of the third Mumbai we intend
to develop,� he elaborated.
But the biggest gamechanger in housing is coming
through a wave of redevelopment. The state has
cleared the allocation of 256 acre of salt pan land for
the Dharavi Redevelopment Project to rehabilitate
ineligible slum dwellers. Our lead story gives you an
exclusive insight into the plans. The state also notified
the redevelopment of two mega-redevelopment
projects � 52 buildings owned by the Maharashtra
Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA)
in Bandra Reclamation and 58 buildings in
Adarsh Nagar in Worli. Tenders for nearly six mega
projects will be launched in the next two months by
MHADA, which have the potential to
monetise `1 trillion of housing stock.
The Mumbai Redevelopment Summit
on June 11 in Mumbai will showcase
the opportunities. Register here:
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