The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has announced the 11th edition of EXCON, South Asia’s largest construction equipment and construction technology trade fair. Next year, the event will take place in Bengaluru from 7 to 11 December 2021. The key focus will be Atmanirbhar Bharat, Fuel Legislation (BS-IV transition), alternate fuels, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics, gender diversity in construction awards, greater participation of academia and defence, state sessions, MSMEs and Digital Transformation. Union Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the construction equipment industry has shown incline in growth path in the last quarter and this is another testimony to the confidence on the recovery of theeconomy. Deepak Shetty, Chairman, Excon 2021 and MD and Deputy CEO, JCB India Limited, said, “With sustainability and the environment being major concerns, the government and industry are taking measures and innovative steps to ensure a sustainable and eco-friendly development of the country’s infrastructure. Interactions at Excon are being planned around topics which cover these aspects in detail. For the Construction Equipment Industry, the existing challenges are opportunities which the industry can take on and emerge stronger.” The heavy industries ministry 325 acres of land has been earmarked at The National Automotive Test Tracks NATRAX), an automotive testing centre in Indore for Testing Construction Equipment Machinery and urged the CE Industry to make use of the facility. He added that the Department of Heavy Industry has been instrumental in setting up Capital Goods Skill Council to define national skill standards and skill needs of the industry. This way, training institutions will be able to impart skills which are valued by employers in the industry. The council has been targeted to benefit 10 million people. Image Source: EXCON