Smaller steps: low rates impact Indian crane market

New cranes were a much rarer sight at this year’s Bauma ConExpo India trade show than at the last one held two years ago.

Instead, this year saw manufacturers focus on systems and solutions to increase productivity, safety and efficiency.

The new Escorts Kubota F25 Fighter is a heavy duty pick and carry mobile crane. It lifts 900 kg at its maximum 16.6 metre radius. Photo: Partha Pratim Basistha

BC India 2026 ran from 15 to 18 September at Greater Noida near New Delhi in north India. It was spread across 135,000 square metres of exhibition space, with more than 1,100 exhibitors from 100-plus countries, notably Germany, China, Taiwan and Italy. Close to 59,004 visitors were claimed by the organiser.

So, instead of entire new cranes their manufacturers focused on displaying solutions to deliver higher productivity, uptime fuel efficiency, backed by timely service response for higher availability of the equipment and lower operating costs.

There being fewer new machines could be attributed to the prevailing market situation, characterised by a continuation of subdued crane rental rates in India. Interestingly, demand for cranes across all capacity classes and type segments continues to remain stable. It is due to demand from railways and metro construction, refinery expansion and shut down jobs and, notably, major ongoing greenfield and brownfield capacity expansion in the cement industry.

The Indian crane rental market is characterised by good utilisation rates but the rental rates give too low a return for companies to invest in brand new machines.

Infrastructure

Liebherr India showed an LTM 1230-5.1 wheeled mobile telescopic crane. Units have been acquired for infrastructure projects. Photo: Partha Pratim Basistha

Given the emerging lifting requirements from railways and industrial infrastructure construction, Liebherr India displayed a five axle, 230 tonne capacity LTM 1230-5.1 wheeled mobile telescopic crane. According to Subhajit Chandra, divisional head, Mobile and Crawler Crane Division (LWE) Liebherr India Pvt Ltd, “The versatile crane has been finding applications in fertiliser plants in India for various lifting jobs and also in cement plants.

“Major shipyards in India, have been evincing interest for LTM 1230-5.1 where it can be used for placement of the prefabricated steel blocks for vessel manufacturing. The crane with its compact footprint and higher lifting capacities across long radius, is also finding interest with the railways in India, where it can be used for handling the precast concrete blocks and prefabricated steel girders for railway bridge construction.” Liebherr has delivered three LTM 1230-5.1s to different industry segments in India.

News from major Indian crane and construction equipment manufacturer Action Construction Equipment was of its 50:50 joint-venture agreement with Kato of Japan. The JV will see manufacture of Kato mobile cranes in India with a planned investment of around INR 200 crore (US$ 21 million) in an 11 acre (4.5 hectare) manufacturing facility in Haryana, North India.

ACE Kato Pvt, Ltd will manufacture high capacity cranes for India and global export markets, ACE said. The JV will be making truck cranes, crawler cranes and rough terrain cranes. This would be followed by more crane models in subsequent phases. catering to infrastructure, transportation, mining, ports, energy, metro rail, industrial and other heavy-duty applications.

Sharing responsibilities

Commenting on the joint venture Sorab Agarwal, Action Construction Equipment executive director, said, “Under the partnership, Kato will lead product engineering, design and technology, while ACE will be responsible for manufacturing, sourcing and localisation. The products will be manufactured in India for customers across domestic and international markets, reinforcing the vision of Made in India for the World.

“A key focus of the joint venture will be the progressive localisation of components through ACE’s established supplier ecosystem. Increased local sourcing is expected to enhance manufacturing efficiency, optimise production costs, improve supply chain resilience and reduce lead times while maintaining the quality, reliability and safety standards associated with Kato’s engineering,” he said.

Agarwal further added, “Our vision extends beyond manufacturing products. We are building a long-term technology and manufacturing partnership focused on creating a strong, future-ready crane manufacturing platform in India. This phased approach will enable us to address the evolving requirements of customers while strengthening our competitiveness across domestic and international markets.”

ACE offers a wide range of equipment, including mobile cranes, crawler cranes, tower cranes, truck cranes, aerial work platforms, telehandlers, forklifts, construction equipment and agricultural machinery.

Escorts Kubota announced its Hydra 16 Plus pick and carry crane. Photo: Partha Pratim Basistha

Escorts and Kubota

Targeting industrial, railway infrastructure construction, manufacturing plant operations, and maintenance jobs, Escorts Kubota Limited launched its new pick and carry (yard) crane. The 16 tonne capacity Hydra 16 Plus has a fully telescopic four section, slotted boom giving a maximum boom tip height of 19.5 metres. It is powered by an Escorts Kubota 50 hp engine with 217 Nm of torque and comes with a 12 tonne capacity hydraulic winch with built in safety brakes.

The company also launched a 25 tonne mobile crane, the F25 Fighter. It has a 22.3 metre boom with fly jib, and 15 tonne hoist winch with auto levelling hook block for precision handling during boom extension and retraction. Maximum travel speed is 40 km/h and there is a 1.3 km/h creep speed. Power is from a 101 hp Volvo Eicher Stage V diesel engine.

Tadano Cranes India showed its truck mounted straight boom hydraulic loader crane type TM- ZE 550 HRS. It lifts 5.05 tonnes and has three boom length options. Abhijeet Narote, deputy general manager, sales and marketing and sales head at Tadano Cranes India Pvt, Ltd, said, “The truck crane is absolutely suitable for industrial construction and maintenance applications along with infrastructure construction and maintenance. One of the vital application of the crane is for railways infrastructure works and maintenance of permanent way.”

From the attendees

Loader cranes from Palfinger on show at Bauma ConExpo India 2026. Photo: Partha Pratim Basistha

Commenting on the event Gaurang Desai, Sanghvi Movers CEO, said, “The exhibition gave us a clear view of where customer demand is moving, particularly across compact equipment, specialised attachments and alternate powertrains. The discussions helped us identify categories worth adding to our rental fleet and the customer segments we should prepare to serve next.”

The event witnessed the major business presence of crane rental companies because there are emerging and newer applications of cranes across various industrial segments. Another reason for their participation was the been reduction of asset liabilities by major Indian infrastructure construction companies, so now they prefer to outsource their lifting works requirements.

“There is an increasing trend of usage of tower cranes in India for rail over bridge construction in India, requiring higher, strictly time-bound project execution capabilities by crane rental companies. We are looking to tap the emerging segments with our expertise,” explained Rituraj Vikram, director of business development-AP Crane Solution Service, exhibiting at the event.

Jagdish Sharma, general manager at Jindal Infrastructure Pvt limited, said, “We are well positioned with our wide mix of highly well maintained crawler and mobile cranes to meet corporate contractors’ project requirements.”

Other crane rental companies and related agencies in India participating in the Bauma Conexpo 2026 included, My Crane, Revival Infra Solutions and Rent Ease.