How big is the Indian material handling equipment segment?

Demand for material handling equipment in India is inching upwards. “We expect the Indian material handling equipment segment to grow at a CAGR of 8-10 per cent in the next four to five years, ahead of the 5 per cent growth projected globally,” predicts Pradeep Sharma, President, Action Construction Equipment (ACE). In India, Sharma reckons that material handling equipment accounts for about 13 per cent of the construction equipment industry. “Within this, the top sellers are pick-and-carry cranes (27 per cent), forklifts (12 per cent), and slew, crawler and tower cranes together (24 per cent).” Somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 pick-and-carry cranes are sold every year in India, estimates Ajay Kumar Somani, Construction & Material Handling Equipment Consultant and Former Director, Liebherr India. And according to Asim Behera, Chief Operating Officer, Daifuku India, the Indian market absorbs 10,000-12,000 forklifts priced between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 35 lakh every year. Beyond this, Behera pegs the market for mechanised material handling systems (such as conveyors and chutes) and fully automated systems offering full product track-ability (such as warehouse management systems, automated storage and retrieval systems, robots, automated guided vehicles) at Rs 2,000-2,500 crore. CHARU BAHRI