CLIMBING THE GROWTH LADDER

AMIT BANSAL, Director-Sales and Marketing, India Region-Building Construction Products, Caterpillar India, shares the company´s commitment to the Indian construction equipment market. Caterpillar Inc, a global leader in the construction equipment industry, has been active in India since 1930. With five manufacturing facilities, two R&D centres, one logistics and parts centre, and various divisional offices, Caterpillar has a wide footprint across India. Machine of choice India is the world´s largest backhoe loader market, and Caterpillar is committed to serve customers in India with world-class technology products and services. Caterpillar started manufacturing the Cat« 424B Backhoe Loader (BHL) in India since 2003 at our Tiruvallur facility, which is located in Tamil Nadu. A backhoe loader can be used for various tasks - from general construction to landscaping, breaking asphalt, and paving roads. The backhoe loaders versatility, coupled with its affordability and ease of financing for small contractors, has made it the ´machine of choice´ in India. Cat Backhoe Loaders provide superior digging, trenching, back-filling and material handling capability. Improvisation Customer´s feedback, market requirements, dealer´s needs, and above all, efforts to improve customer´s margins are the key criteria which are engineered into the Cat 424B Backhoe Loader. It has been observed that with increasing fuel prices, customer´s margins are affected as they are unable to increase their rental rates in line with fuel prices because of competitive market conditions. With extensive research and exhaustive testing, our engineers had mapped the energy loses and had carried out suitable changes to decrease the energy losses in the Cat 424B Backhoe Loader and make it fuel efficient. World Class Quality The Cat 424B Backhoe Loader is known for its outstanding reliability, durability, productivity and quality. Cat 424B, not only gives trouble free operation to its customers, but also greatly reduces the operating and maintenance cost. Its unique feature - variable displacement axial piston pump - ensures that the flow is given by pump only when it is required resulting in lowest load on engine, thereby resulting in optimum fuel-efficiency and increased component life. At times, customer requirements can be diverse. We endeavour to fulfil them all through our wide product range. For example, we also have the Cat 424BHD (Heavy Duty) version, which is more suitable for productivity conscious customers. Making in India In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s ´Make in India´ campaign, we also launched a small but reliable product - Cat® 216B3 Skid Steer Loader, manufactured at the Caterpillar India Tiruvallur facility. The unique feature of the skid steer loader is that it turns or steers by skidding, hence it is called a Skid Steer Loader. Cat Skid Steer Loaders are designed and built for maximum performance and safety. A combination of advanced power and hydraulic technologies ensures power, versatility, efficiency, ease of operation and reliability. Cat 216B3 can work in confined spaces and is capable of performing multiple utility tasks with more than 25 varieties of work tools. With an increased focus from the government on the construction sector and bright prospects, with additional emphasis on the availability, cost, and safety of labour, we see a good opportunity for Skid Steer Loaders in the days to come. One stop solution Our two dealers in India, GMMCO and TIPL offer ´one stop solutions´ to customers looking for mining, construction, infrastructure, road-laying machines, engines of various capacities and for various applications. Starting with advice and consultancy in choosing the right product to round-the-clock on-site support, their business solutions include both new and used products, as well as rental options. At Caterpillar, we follow a strategy to grow with the market. That is expanding our operations in line with the emerging opportunities and requirements of that market. In line with this strategy, we have been making investments as well as launching products consistently in India. We will continue with this strategy and will invest to expand our business here, in line with the requirement. (Communication by the management of the company)