Government is working on a Mechanism for speedy resolution of disputes for Infrastructure Projects: Dr. E M Sudarsana Natchiappan

21 November 2013, New Delhi: The second day of EXCON 2013 started with a Conference on ‘Sustainable Infrastructure DevelopmentÂ’ organized by the Indian Construction Equipment ManufacturersÂ’ Association (ICEMA)  in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).  EXCON 2013, South AsiaÂ’s biggest exhibition of Construction Equipment (CE) is being held in Bangalore from 20th to 24th of November, 2013 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore.

Dr. E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, in his Chief Guest Address at the inaugural session, acknowledged the difficulty in land acquisition for infrastructure projects in the country. To make land acquisitions easier the minister suggested that the project developers should have a human approach and take into account needs of the land owners, interact with them, try and provide jobs through skill development, he said.

While talking about the issue of disputes on compensation, Dr. Natchiappan said that the Government is committed towards  addressing the issues on Land Acquisition for speedy implementation of projects.

On the issue of dispute resolution, he said that Government  is working with industry bodies on a policy to have an arbitration mechanism for quick reconciliation. On the issue of skill development, he urged the industry bodies to work with National Skill Development Council. He also said that many autonomous institutions are being allowed to develop various courses that will make students job-ready.

Mr. Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, EXCON 2013 Steering Committee said that with the theme on ‘Propelling Sustainable Infrastructure Growth’, the seventh edition of the premier event for the Construction Equipment industry is not just South East Asia’s largest but is on its way to become one of the top few in the world for propelling infra structure growth in India.

Mr. Sondhi felt that there are number of benefits that will accrue from the development of the construction equipment industry. The benefits include “increase in per capita income in India, creation of 30 to 35 million jobs in infrastructure and other sectors linked with infrastructure development like steel, cement etc, a massive 5 to 6 per cent reduction in unemployment rates and 3 to 4 per cent of the population will be getting lifted above the poverty line, he pointed out.

Mr. Sondhi briefed that EXCON 2013 is focusing on sustainable growth and revolves around six themes:

• Accelerate road building capacity for improved national connectivity
• Rural connectivity for inclusive growth
• Improve quality of life in our cities through urban renewals by using equipments which are compact and small
• Building infrastructure in an ecologically sustainable manner specially on emission and safety
• Facilitate finance and liquidity for infrastructure projects across the value chain and
• Develop India as a outsourcing hub for aggregate and component manufacturing.

At the conference, ICEMA in association with A.T. Kearney  released  a report on Roadmap for Realizing ECE IndustryÂ’s Long Term Potential. According to the report the ECE (earthmoving and construction equipment) market is expected to grow by a healthy 20 to 25 per cent over the next few years to reach 330,000 to 450,000 units sold in 2020 from the current levels of 76,000 units. “This would imply a $16 to $21 billion market by 2020, up from $3 billion at the current level,” the report said. It pointed out that the main drivers for growth of ECE industry are: growth in end-user industries, higher adoption of traditional applications to speed up projects, development of new applications, growing urbanization and better availability of finance.

Mr. Amit Gossain, President ICEMA, in his welcome address said that though the construction equipment industry has been witnessing sluggish growth in recent times, the Cabinet Committee on Investment, set up by the government, has made some progress in getting stalled projects worth lakhs of crores moving again.

EXCON 2013 is seeing participation of over 730 exhibitors reaching out to 35,000 business visitors. The event is supported by the The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India. Government of Karnataka is the Partner State for EXCON 2013.