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It is about expanding what India can design, develop and foundation machinery, mining, road equipment, port machinery,
manufacture—and building a deeper foundation for long-term renewable energy solutions and material handling. Supported
competitiveness. by 42 dealerships and more than 260 customer touchpoints,
the business reflects how scale is increasingly being built across
MOVING UP THE VALUE CHAIN the entire equipment ecosystem rather than around individual
India’s construction equipment industry has built the scale. The product categories.
next measure of its progress will be the value that scale can This breadth is becoming increasingly important. India’s
create. For much of its growth journey, the industry has been infrastructure requirements are no longer concentrated in a few
defined by capacity, volumes and the expanding needs of conventional segments. Highways, metros, mining, ports, industrial
India’s infrastructure programme. Today, a more significant shift projects, logistics facilities and energy infrastructure each bring
is taking shape. Manufacturers are broadening product portfolios, different application requirements. As a result, manufacturers
investing in larger and more sophisticated facilities, strengthening are being pushed to develop not just larger portfolios but more
engineering capabilities and building operations that increasingly specialised capabilities.
support markets beyond India. CASE Construction Equipment’s Pithampur facility crossing the
The numbers illustrate the strength of the base. Construction 10,000-unit production milestone is another indication of this
equipment sales reached 136,995 units in FY26, while exports manufacturing maturity. The company’s continued focus on
rose to 17,394 units. More than 95% of the equipment sold in India localisation and capacity development reflects India’s growing
is now manufactured domestically, providing the industry with a importance within its wider operations. At the same time, the
strong platform from which to deepen technology, engineering market’s evolution is encouraging manufacturers to move beyond
and product capabilities. mainstream products towards a broader range of applications
JCB India’s journey demonstrates what this progression can and customer requirements.
look like at scale. The company crossed the 600,000-machine For Volvo Construction Equipment, that progression is
production mark in India in 2026, underlining the scale and increasingly linked to product development. Its Made-in-Bharat
maturity of its operations. Equipment manufactured in India is now EC215 excavator, highlighted in 2026, has been developed
exported to more than 135 countries, transforming the country around Indian operating conditions and customer needs.
from a large domestic market into an important part of JCB’s The company’s Bengaluru Technology Centre adds another
international manufacturing network. dimension, strengthening India’s role in R&D, localisation and
SANY’s growth tells a similar story from a different perspective. The product development. The distinction is important: when
company’s integrated Chakan facility represents an investment engineering moves closer to manufacturing, India becomes
of more than `750 crore, bringing together manufacturing, capable of contributing not just to the production of equipment,
R&D, testing, quality inspection and service infrastructure. Its but to decisions around what equipment is developed in the first
portfolio today spans earthmoving, cranes, concrete equipment, place.
16 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|SEPTEMBER 2026

