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: Follow me on Linkedin @PratapPadode