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Doosan Portable Power has opened a new manufacturing facility in Doddaballapur, Bangalore, India, with the capacity to produce 2,000 portable air compressors and light towers annually. More than 100 guests joined Doosan Portable Power employees for the manufacturing launch. Portable air compressors and light towers manufactured in the factory are sold in India with future plans to provide additional units to meet market demands in South Africa and Latin America “Doddaballapur in Bangalore offers outstanding

After a slowdown in road projects last year, the road construction sector in India has picked up in 2012. With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarding new projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) programmes and the their execution picking up, the Indian construction industry is looking at making up for lost time with a flow of funds and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contracts in 2012. The effect of the sudden surge in demand for construction machinery, building

Ammann and Gujarat Apollo Industries Ltd (GAIL) have signed binding agreements which will see Ammann Group pay around €44 million to acquire a 70% share in the Indian company’s plant and machine business. Said to be the Indian market leaders in road construction equipment, GAIL’s core products include road pavers, asphalt mixing plants, bitumen sprayers and compaction machines. The joint venture is seen by the Ammann Group as underscoring its global growth strategy while, crucially, heralding its entry into

The organisers of bauma China have every right to feel pleased with their work - Mike Woof reports As the bauma China 2012 exhibition closed its doors, the organisers were likely congratulating themselves over a highly successful event. Anyone walking the aisles at this exhibition cannot fail to have noticed the huge numbers of visitors, with early figures saying that 180,000 people visited the show. This was a notable 16% increase over the 155,615 visiting this exhibition in 2010. Despite the slowdown in t

There is nothing that fuels economic uncertainty like economic uncertainty. Lack of confidence amongst investors ensures a reluctance to invest, and that is a common problem for many of the markets around the world at present. The financial crash that started in the US in 2008 and then spread to Europe is an economic malaise that has lasted longer than previous recessions and has had a wider effect for the world economy. Europe has been hard hit and speaking at the recent Committee for European Constructio

The Chhattisgarh government in India will receive a US$300 million loan from the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) for upgrading more than 900km of roads by 2017. The project will include works like building new sections, expanding roads to accommodate a two-lane system as well as the construction and strengthening of culverts and bridges. The state will also contribute over $128 million for a total project investment cost of $428.10 million.

In India work is commencing on a new highway project that will boost transportation in the country. The US$135 million project is for a 193km highway linking Malavalli and Pavagada. The World Bank has provided some of the funding through the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP). The work will be carried out by the Sadbhav-GKC consortium and will take some 30 months. The deal is being offered as a 10 year concession package, under the design, build finance, operate, maintain and transfer (DBF

Concrete roads connecting rural clusters with a population of 250 or more across the Indian state of Bihar are to be built over the next five years. According to Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, the clusters will be connected with single metalled road to help grow the state's economy. Kumar said Bihar will spend US$4.22 billion (INR230 billion) building more than 34,000km of roads under the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojna scheme.

The Haryana state government in India has given IVRCL a deal worth US$293.07 million (INR 16.05bn) to build a 151km road between Kharak and Malikhapur. The project is scheduled to be completed in 30 months, with financing set to be secured in the next six months.

India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ

Astec Industries has unveiled “optimistic plans” for India where the government plans to spend US$600 billion on infrastructure in the coming years. Recently, four US-based companies of Astec Industries hosted two senior executives of Tractors India Limited (TIL) to further cooperation initiatives and strengthen Astec’s market position in India. Utilising its newly-opened state-of-the-art 20,000m² production facility in Kharagpur, West Bengal, TIL will manufacture a range of Astec Aggregate and Mining crush

The state government of Kerala in India has given an in-principle approval to raise auto-rickshaw, bus and taxi fares due to an increase of INR 5 (US$0.10) per litre in diesel prices.

German company Herrenknecht says that in recent months it has received 18 orders from India for tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for projects to expand metro networks in the Indian cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, and for water supply schemes. Earlier this year an Indian record of 525m of drilled and secured tunnel was achieved in one month on the Veligonda water project (state of Andhra Pradesh) with a Herrenknecht Double Shield TBM (diameter 7.9m). The 18km Veligonda Tunnel is part of a sche

Major equipment manufacturers have signed up for bC India 2013 for the first time with space for the event running out. Despite extending the available exhibition space to 150,000m² (2011: 88,000m²) bC India 2013 is already almost fully booked. Thomas Löffler, chief executive officer bC Expo India, says: “Many companies have booked more space than at the first event. That shows the high regard bC India already enjoys among exhibitors.” JCB has been attracted to bC India 2013 as a first-time exhibitor.

Miller International is excited about the potential sales of its quick coupler for excavators in China following its recent link-up with Sany and presence at bauma China 2012. “The relationship with Sany is fantastic as is the exposure for the quick crawler at a show like this,” said Theo Wolfe, China business manager for Miller International (MI). “It’s [the quick crawler] is relatively new technology in China. We have to change the way people [in China] use machines, to show them that they can use one mac

Manitowoc has released details of its strategy for capturing a greater share of crane sales in the crucial Chinese market. The American firm offers four brands in China: Grove mobile hydraulic cranes, Manitowoc high capacity crawler cranes, Potain tower cranes, and Dongyue truck cranes. It believes that continuing to import its latest cranes to meet local customer needs, while expanding its product and development team, increasing the speed of local sourcing of components, enlarging distribution networks i

Liebherr is weathering the current financial situation rather better than some other firms, having seen turnover increase 9.8% to €4.4 billion in the first half of 2012, compared with the previous year. According to Andreas Boehm, a member of the board of directors at Liebherr, turnover for the mining and construction operations saw gains of 7.7% to €2.84 billion in the first half of 2012, compared with 2011. He continued, “Turnover from our earthmoving machinery increased 14.4% to €1.07 billion.” However,

The Wirtgen Group is committed to expanding its presence in “increasingly important” emerging markets, according to joint group president Stefan Wirtgen. Speaking alongside his brother and co-Wirtgen Group president, Jürgen Wirtgen, at a press conference during the recent Wirtgen Mineral Technology Days 2012 event attended by over 1,400 industry professionals from more than 60 countries, Stefan Wirtgen said: “The markets in the last few years have shifted and emerging markets are playing an increasingly imp

In India a cyclist suffered a road rage incident, from an elephant. The incident, which was captured on video, occurred as a cyclist overtook an elephant on a busy urban road. The animal, perhaps upset that its slow speed meant other road users were forced to overtake, sideswiped the cyclist with its trunk as he passed. The cyclist was not seriously hurt in the incident and was later able to resume his journey along the trunk route. The elephant did not stop to apologise for its actions however and nor did

According to Terex its new Powerlift 1000 crawler crane features a compact design and claimed best-in-class reach and lifting capacity. It is built in Terex’s Jinan factory and is aimed at lifting contractors throughout China, Russia and India. The Powerlift 1000 has a maximum 55tonne lifting capacity and 203.5mt load moment, combined with a 55m main boom and a maximum 61m system length. It can be fitted with 6, 9, 12 or 15m fixed jibs.