TOWER CRANES SPECIAL

Until now, the Indian market was greatly dominated by cheap imported cranes and locally manufactured Indian cranes. Though such cranes still hold a substantial market share, the demand for technically superior and safe products, similar to what exist in the European market, is also going up. Tower cranes are available in India through domestic as well as international manufacturers. If a crane is procured from a reputed international player, clients are assured a crane with world class technology and features, says Tushar Mehendale, managing director,

ElectroMech. His company has a joint venture with Zoomlion to manufacture, sell and service their range of tower cranes in India. Thanks to the entry of many such international players, the awareness about advantages of using quality machines is rising among construction companies. This has worked in favour of crane manufacturers, who are now offering a wide range of advanced products to address growing needs of challenging projects such as power, manufacturing, high-rises and housing. For example, Italy-based Raimondi Cranes is looking to increase its sales in rapidly developing

nations like India to bring about more savings to clients and final consumers. We are seeing a decrease in gap between total financial expenses involved in purchasing a European crane compared with that of an Asian made crane. The pricing also includes its life-long maintenance cost, besides depreciation, accounting and real. Hence, quality matters from day one, says Ragnar Brigg, marketing director, Raimondi Cranes.

Safety normS In developed countries like Europe, there has been a recent introduction of new safety norms EN 14439 for tower cranes.

Climbing higherWith growing awareness about technically superior and safe products, tower cranes in India are fast evolving from being just hoist-and-carry equipment to a solution

BY SYED AMEEN KADER

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10% growth rate of tower crane industry for next five years

TOWER CRANES SPECIAL

The new safety norm comprises two parts. The first part relates to accessories and components of tower cranes to meet the requirements of operator comfort, safe access, rest platform, anti-collision device and anemometer to monitor wind hazard. The second part is concerned with improved safety in out-of-service condition of tower crane which is affected due to wind, taking the geographical position and probability of wind velocity in account.

In India too, the trend of preferring technologically superior tower cranes for project applications involving industrial and high rise building construction is on the rise. In the near future, it is strongly felt that the safety norms for tower cranes will become more stringent and tower cranes with better safety features and quality standards will see exponential growth, says Sheetal Malik, general manager, marketing, Escorts. The market share of tower cranes with good technology is expected to rise once users start giving preference to technology and

While selecting cranes for their projects, contractors should consider their require-ments carefully by taking into account the area they want to cover, maximum load to be lifted, and the load capacity required at the tip of the boom.

Moreover, selection of the supplier should be done so as to ensure a reliable and safe crane, with adequate service back up across the country.

Contractors should select a crane that will meet their hoisting needs keeping in bal-ance: time vs lifting capabilities (speed and weights) vs overall investment.

According to the job site condition, the selection of external and internal climbing type tower crane should be made.

SELECTING RIGHT CRANES

safety instead of price while deciding the product, he adds.

Raimondi Cranes, which offers Class A4 FEM 1.001 design and manufacturing standard ratings, says such products come with higher quality and longer life when compared with Class A3 FEM 1.00. With Class A4, the crane is rated to work double the amount of time of a Class A3 crane. The savings are clear, whether the crane is viewed as a long term asset or a short term tool, says Brigg. On the short term, he adds, resale value will be higher and on the long term customers will have a much longer service life for the crane.

SeLf-ereCtInG CraneSSelf-erecting cranes are gradually becoming popular in India as they use latest hydraulics and electronics, which are important components for providing smoother, faster and better lifting ability. These cranes come wrapped up in a compact package, requiring very small footprint at a job site where space is an issue. Such cranes are perfect for city centre jobs or working on smaller housing and commercial projects. For

our estimate pegs the size for the tower cranes market in india at around 600 units; of this 400 units are required by the real estate sector alone. the growth rate is expected to be 2025 per cent over the next few years. tushar Mehendale, Md, electroMech

TOWER CRANES SPECIAL

Raimondi Cranes, which has already increased its presence in India, says its market research reveals that the tower crane market seems to be pointing at its potential for steady growth in the coming years. In the coming two years, we expect to see close to 500 new tower crane orders in India, and after five year that number could get closer to 1,000 per year, says Ragnar Brigg, marketing director, Raimondi Cranes.

According to him, India, like some other markets, is facing challenges that may seem familiar turf to many: changing lifestyles, in-creasing cost of land and labour, etc., all of this equates with an increasing need to build

better, quickly and more eco-nomically. We are particularly sensitive to the fact that the use of cranes has been tak-en for granted for some decades, as in Eu-rope, for example, we are not, for this reason, tempted to apply market replication strategies in our approach to India. Instead, our role in India is to meet its changing needs. This is a conscious effort on our part, he adds.

RAImoNdI buLLISH oN INdIAN mARkET

example, Manitowoc sold its first Potain Igo self-erecting crane in India to a company called Tricon Infra, which used the crane to build a movie theatre on top of an existing shopping mall. The demand for luffing jib cranes has also started to come up from cities like Mumbai. Since India is still an immature market for tower cranes, it may take some time, but it has already

CHaLLenGeS Though the awareness about quality tower cranes is spreading among the big construction companies, most small to mid-sized contractors still give preference to pricing over quality. In the near future, experts say, the safety norms for tower cranes will become more and more stringent. Once these norms become mandatory, low technology brands, which are presently holding major market share due to their price advantage, are expected to see a fall in their market share.

Another big challenge for the sector in the coming years will be to have good trained operators for this equipment. Globally, the laws are very stringent when it comes to giving license to an operator who is eligible to operate a tower crane. In India, we currently have no norms on the basis of which an operator is given license for tower cranes operations. Once such norms are introduced, both the industry and major suppliers will have to work out a strategy to address this shortcoming in the system.

started in Mumbai, says Ashwani Mattoo, national sales manager, tower cranes, Manitowoc Cranes India. Luffing jib cranes really help you avoid jib collusions. In most of the matured markets, there are strict norms where you cannot fly over neighbours buildings. Luffing cranes when they come in proclaiming version, are slightly easier to dismantle, adds Mattoo.