Containerised transport key driver of demand for reach stackers

Anil Bhatia, Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, TIL, expects the market demand for reach stackers for handling containers to increase to 140 units in the next year, from 100 units in 2019. He predicts that the increasing containerisation of the inland transport of commodities previously sent as bulk cargo, such as rice, granite and cement, and the opening of dedicated freight corridors from 2020 onwards, will be major demand drivers for reach stackers. In turn, these developments will facilitate the faster and more cost-effective movement of containerised goods vis-à-vis road transport. With the containerised inland transport of goods currently standing at not more than 5 per cent of the total countrywide movement of goods, as against 20 per cent in developed nations, as per Bhatia, this segment of the material handling equipment industry has huge growth prospects. CHARU BAHRI