Construction equipment makers on guard amid uncertainties before 2019 polls

The pace of road construction is expected to pick up now that the monsoon has come to an end, says Vipin Sondhi, managing director and chief executive officer at JCB India

The domestic construction equipment industry, which saw a volume growth of about forty per cent in the first eight months of the 2018 calendar year, is now vigilant. Public spending on infrastructure has been driving demand since 2016 but it may slow down in the run-up to the general polls. A reduction in fuel excise duty is estimated to trim government’s revenue by Rs 105 billion in the second half of financial year 2019 and may impact spending.

“We are going into an election year. We need to watch for the larger macroeconomic factors, including public spending and sustenance of