Excon 2005 generates Rs 800 cr biz

Excon 2005, the Construction Equipment and Technology Trade Fair, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) saw around Rs 800 crore worth of business being generated.

The trade fair, which concluded on Sunday attracted over 25,000 business and trade visitors spread over the five days. People associated with the expo, say business transacted at the fair could ultimately cross the Rs 1,000 crore.

Excon '05 was spread over a net display area of 30,000 square metres, and had 170 exhibitors showcasing technologies and products. The last edition of Excon had 120 exhibitors spread over 14,000 square metres.

Firms from 10 countries participated in the trade fair and the event also saw business delegations from Italy, UK, Spain, Japan and US.

Excon 2005 showcased India's engineering skills and its potential as a global outsourcing destination for manufacture of construction equipment and components.

It saw participation from 170 exhibitors representing global and regional players in the construction equipment and technology sector.

"An infrastructure revolution is on in the country and is unstoppable," said S K Mittra, general manager, Larsen & Toubro Limited, construction and mining equipment business unit.

In future, exhibitions like Excon 2005 provide the opportunity to further trigger the revolution, he added.

The edition of Excon saw the presence of global firms and delegations. This provided opportunity to Indian manufacturers to interact with their foreign counterparts.

The expo saw nearly 25 chief executives of leading construction and mining equipment companies looking towards India for components and for outsourcing major part of their manufacturing.

"The influx of quality visitors to our stall has been extremely high. We have received business enquiries worth Rs 45-50 crore over the last five days. What is encouraging is the change seen in discussions from both Indian and international customers that resulted in these order bookings," said Mrityunjaya Singh, vice president, Volvo Construction Equipment.

"The fair has given us the opportunity to tie up with an Ethiopian company through whom we hope to sell our products in parts of Africa. We have initiated talks with several parties for dealerships," Steven A Spence, international area manager of US-based Multiquip Construction Equipment.

According to M K Raghu, senior sales engineer, Bonfiglioli Transmissions, "The turnout of business visitors has been extremely good over the five days. As a component manufacturer, it was very encouraging to receive a high number of enquiries from new markets."