RAMESH PALAGIRI elaborates on factors that continue to keep his company bullish in the long term prospects for the roads and highways sector.The last five years have seen an exponential growth in the road infrastructure in India due to the proactive policies and initiatives of the MOST (Ministry of Surface Transport) at the center and also by the road development authorities in various states throughout the country. At the MOST level, from around 12 km per day – the road projects had peaked to 30 km per day and similar growth has been achieved in some of the states. This had resulted in a CAGR of 30 per cent for the road construction equipment industry in the last five years, and Wirtgen Group being the world market and innovation leader in road building and rehabilitation technologies, has also benefited, as we were able to offer equipment – both from our local production in Pune and plants in Germany.Approach to market scenarioWith the return of the same government and the same minister in the highway sector, there was naturally a high expectation from the industry.We have witnessed a slowdown in awards and construction of road projects in the last six months as NHAI and MOST is trying different ways by which funding can be arranged for the growth of the highway sector due to the tight financial situation with the government. The ministry is looking at ways to monetise the existing operational highways through the TOT (Toll-Operate-Transfer) model and to rework on the BOT model to make it more attractive. We feel this is the right approach as the government will not be able to fund all the highways required, in the country.Expansion and investmentsWirtgen Group continues to be bullish in the long term prospects for the roads and highways sector and hence would continue to invest in its Pune plant and in our direct sales and customer support network in India. We have now decided to purchase additional land adjacent to our existing land in Pune for future expansion. We have just completed the expansion for the new finishing and painting hall, which would enhance the production capacity of Kleemann Screens and Hamm Compactors and Vogele Pavers. In 2020, we would be further expanding our Kleemann hall by an additional bay. We also have plans to start manufacturing a few more products from the Hamm range in Pune. Exports contribute 20 per cent today to our sales and we expect this to go up in the coming years.On the sales and customer support front, we intend to continue to live up to our mantra of ‘Close to our Customers’ by our direct sales and service model. With our Centre for Training & Technology in Pune and a strong application specialist team in the field, for catering to the requirements of both bituminous and concrete roads, we are well placed to help our customers for the upcoming growth 2.0.We would also be introducing some more new technologies across our product brands ‘Wirtgen/Vogele/Hamm/Kleeman’ to India, which would help speed up the construction, and improve the ride quality of the roads. From the brand Wirtgen, it would be the new Recycler 380 CR, Double layer concreting slipform paver; from the brand Vogele, it would be mobile feeder, spray jet, inline pave, road scan, etc.In the next five years, we at Wirtgen India would expect to achieve a CAGR growth of 15 per cent.About the author: Ramesh Palagiri, Managing Director & CEO, Wirtgen India, has over 30 years of experience in the field of construction and mining machinery industry. During his term of 11 years at Wirtgen India, the company’s turnover has increased tenfold over the years.