Held from December 12-16, the expo spread across 250,000 sq m housing 925 exhibitors including 275 companies from across the globe. CW gives a sneak peek into the look and feel of the 9th edition of the expo in Bengaluru in 2017. Much to its success, CII Excon 2017 concluded with an overwhelming response from participants and visitors. True to its theme, 'Smart Technologies Fueling Next Gen Infra', 'optimism' was the sentiment among exhibitors as well as visitors. This was also evident in the new launches, key handovers, JV announcements and the discussions at the conferences held alongside the expo. The footfall and rush hours were also testimony to the successful edition! Aligned with the government's 'Make in India' vision, Excon 2017 emerged as an imperative platform bringing together leading global and domestic construction equipment players to demonstrate their world-class technological prowess and capabilities. The event provided an opportunity for participants to network; discuss and debate on the opportunities and challenges in creating world-class infrastructure. With the Government of Karnataka being the Host State for Excon 2017, the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA) was the Sector Partner and the expo was supported by the Builders Association of India (BAI). Anant G Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India, inaugurated the 9th edition of the expo. Among other industry leaders, present at the inaugural session were Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog; Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, CII EXCON 2017; Arving Garg, President, ICEMA; Hari Sankaran, Chairman, CII National Committee on Infrastructure and PPP; and Kamal Bali, Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council. There were also sessions on 'Government Projects-The Key Enabler', 'Infra Development-Voice of Customers' and on 'Future Technologies-Its impact on construction equipment industry'. This apart, there were panel discussions by dignitaries in the Infrastructure Summit and a special CEOs Roundtable. CII and ICEMA organised a Conference on 'Nextgen Infrastructure', presenting the advancement of technology and integration of IT in building world-class infrastructure. This was attended by Chief Guests RV Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka and KT Rama Rao, Minister of IT, Municipal Admin & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Sugar, Mines & Geology, NRI Affairs, Government of Telangana. The Guest of Honour was TCA Ranganathan, Former Chairman & Managing Director, Export-Import Bank of India. Speaking at the event, Deshpande said, 'Creation of human resources is the biggest challenge in the present day and has urged the infrastructure industry captains to create good jobs. We have already created more than 13 lakh jobs by September 2017 and 5 lakh more jobs are in the pipeline.' Adding to this, Rao said, 'Both the government and private sectors need to come out with a 'jugaad' model, among others, to create more robust infrastructure. If you want India to propel to a global economy, the country needs infrastructure but with unique innovation. What's more, there has been tremendous backing from renowned international associations such as Germany Engineering Federation (VDMA); Korea Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (KOCEMA); Confindustria Modena and UNACEA, Italy; China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); and Construction Equipment Distributors and Manufacturers Association of Turkey (IMDER). Also the exhibition had dedicated country pavilions including leading economies like China, Germany, Italy, China, South Korea and the UK. This apart, extensive business talks were on in the outdoor space and four halls. Planned activities by several exhibitors - such as the JCB's dancing diggers - to attract visitors were certainly crowd-pullers, and live demos by select companies engaged visitors to getting a first-hand experience of how the equipment functions and operates. Amid this busy edition, the CW team recorded the optimism at the expo by interacting with the industry big-wigs, covering the many launches and key handovers, among others. Having interacted with the who's who of the construction equipment industry, here's offering an overview of the technological innovations and, new launches at the expo. Click here: TATA MOTORS BONFIGLIOLI CATERPILLAR INDIA EPIROC INDIA ESCORTS CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT GMMCO SANY HEAVY INDUSTRY INDIA L&T CONSTRUCTION & MINING MACHINERY PUTZMEISTER CONCRETE MACHINES VOLVO CE SCHWING STETTER BKT SANY HEAVY INDUSTRY INDIA COLUMBIA MACHINE ENGINEERING (I) MB SSAB INDIA CASE NEW HOLLAND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT (INDIA) MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA ATLAS COPCO POWER TECHNIQUE ACTION CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AJASHY ENGINEERING SALES WIRTGEN INDIA