India needs to grow on leasing

- Girish Jaggi, Founder & CEO, India, Hire My Machine Hire My Machine is a portal for contractors or any machine owners or hirers. Idle machines can be put up on the portal where buyers or people who want to rent machines can view them at a charge involving minimal commission. Girish Jaggi, Founder & CEO, India, Hire My Machine, shares more on his new venture with SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN. When was Hire My Machine established? Hire My Machine was established around two to three months ago, and currently we have around 1,300-1,400 machines on our portal. We feature any type of equipment from mining and infrastructure to buildings, power cranes, graders, trucks, etc. Is the current trend more towards leasing or buying? We need to grow a lot on leasing. It is more important that we use our resources. In India, we are using only 7-8 per cent hiring, while Japan witnesses 80-90 per cent hiring. We buy new resources, though we have unutilised resources with us. Once those resources start moving, more spares will be required. It´s a win-win situation for everyone. So your role is that of a mediator? Yes. We make two parties meet and they have to pay a commission to ensure that they are into serious business and then they can go ahead with it. How many clients do you have on your portal? We have around 80 companies already registered with us. What is the challenge at present? We are more concerned about getting more traffic onto the portal. We have a target of around 10,000 machines by January. Also, people really need to mature in terms of hiring and be professionals in paying rent on time. This is one area where the industry is lagging.