Liebherr pursues the goal of making a decisive contribution towards technological progress.
Subhajit Chandra,
What is the current market scenario of mobile cranes in India?
From 2024, the Indian crane market is anticipated to have an average projected CAGR of at least a solid 10-15% every fiscal year till 2029, a promising growth rate throughout the forecast period from 2024 to 2029. This suggests an exciting period of expansion and development in the crane industry within the Indian market.
The market has undergone segmentation based on machinery type, encompassing all terrain cranes, truck cranes, rough terrain cranes, pick-n-carry cranes, and crawler cranes, among other categories. Mobile cranes hold the largest market share. Over recent years, India's construction industry has experienced substantial growth due to a robust economic environment. The surge in heavy construction projects, including flyovers, railways, metros, and bridges, has driven demand for heavy-duty mobile cranes. Anticipated growth lies in the increased demand for higher tonnage mobile cranes across various application segments. The usage of mobile cranes is expanding in plant erection and expansion projects, and the renewable energy sector, especially wind sector, is also contributing to the rising demand for mobile cranes.
Government initiatives aimed at fostering the construction and infrastructure industry are fuelling demand in the mobile crane sector. The government's infrastructure-focused agenda is gradually enhancing prospects for the crane business. Additionally, the rental industry will play a pivotal role in driving the mobile crane segment of the market.
How do you look at the demand trend? What is the demand-supply scenario?
Demand for the cranes has never been so higher in the Indian crane market. It is growing to a new high every day. With big push in infrastructure development and green energy transition by the government and other such initiatives aimed at fostering the construction and infrastructure industry are further fuelling demand in the mobile crane sector.
The government's infrastructure-focused agenda is gradually enhancing prospects for the crane business. Additionally, the rental industry will play a pivotal role in driving the mobile crane segment of the market, in maintaining quality of the equipment they operate and keeping the crane industry healthy too.
On the other hand, supply of cranes is also growing. Liebherr has been working with its customers on various requirements. Among many other cranes we supplied, notable is the recently supplied Multiple LTM 1750- 9.1 – 750 MT all terrain cranes to a prominent construction company in India. The demand for crane ownership is expected to grow more in the coming years. We are hopeful of the stellar growth in the Indian crane market.
What are the latest product and technology trends in your range of mobile cranes?
In the long product range of our 30 MT to 1,200 MT all terrain cranes, 90 MT – 130 MT rough terrain cranes, 500 MT to 3,000 MT crawler lattice and 40 MT – 220 MT crawler telescopic cranes, we have cranes for every application. Upgrades are being made to every and all the products on a regular basis. Few of the crane models, from our latest offerings, are listed below:
Liebherr LTM1100-5.3 - A mobile crane that takes the combination of mobility, economy and performance to a whole new level – the LTM 1100-5.3 has a powerful, 62 metre (203 ft) telescopic boom and can carry up to 16.9 tonnes (37,250 lb) of ballast on public roads with an axle load of just 12 tonnes (26,450 lb). The crane is also suitable for economical global mobility as it can travel with an axle load of just 9 tonnes (19,840 lb). This is why we are launching the new LTM 1100-5.3 with the slogan ‘The master of all roads’. It is the second crane in Liebherr’s mobile crane portfolio to feature the new LICCON3 control system.
Liebherr LTR 1150 - The LTR 1150 adds to our portfolio of telescopic crawler cranes and is positioned precisely between the LTR 1100 and the LTR 1220. The real highlight of the crane is its economical transport concept. No other telescopic crawler crane in this lifting capacity class can be transported in full with its crawler carriers on one low loader. That is also why the crane’s slogan is ‘Compact and strong, transport in one’. In terms of ballast distribution, a strong emphasis was also placed on ensuring economical worldwide transport. All the counterweight can be ballasted on the crane with just four hoists. Another highlight of the LTR 1150 is the VarioBase® lifting capacity calculation for three fixed track widths. This has been used before on our telescopic mobile cranes and is now available for the first time on an LTR crane.
Liebherr LRT 1100-2.1 – This is the crane we recently displayed ay Excon 2023 and highly popular with our customers in mining, metals and cement industry.
During the design of the LRT 1100-2.1 rough-terrain crane, our engineers focused on one specific criterion – safety, for both the crane operator and surrounding area. For example, the rough-terrain crane has outrigger monitors as standard. The support status is detected automatically and saved to the crane controller. The standard VarioBase® variable support base also enhances safety. It enhances flexibility on site and also increases the crane’s lifting capacity. The LRT 1100-2.1 has a telescopic boom with Liebherr’s time-tested telematic telescoping system for rough-terrain cranes, on which the various telescoping sections can be extended independently with a single cylinder and then pinned to the telescopic section above. This system is particularly simple and user-friendly, as excellent lifting capacities over the entire radius range can be achieved with just two telescoping modes, power or length.
What are the latest safety and other features in your range of mobile cranes?
Liebherr cranes come with all sorts of safety features as standard supply which includes angle indicator, level indicator, load indicator, lock indicator, slew position, rated capacity indicator and many other safety features that you may only see in a Liebherr crane.
Apart from the extensive focus on safety features, our design team has also focused on applicability and suitability and taken the crane design to a whole new level with following features:
- Wind speed load-charts - Possible to operate the crane safely in high wind.
- EcoMode/EcoDrive - Lowers noise level, so the crane operator is relieved and safety increases.
- VarioBase® - The crane work is monitored by the load limiter with real-time capacity calculation for each crane outrigger as the position. You may now position outriggers in infinitely variable positions.
- VarioBallast® - Now you can operate the crane with different counterweight radius, you can increase the radius of the counterweight and the Liccon system will automatically calculate the capacity.
Many such additional features are added to the cranes to make them more helpful to our customers and keep them future proof.
What are the green initiatives in your mobile cranes range?
In Liebherr’s green initiative, since September 2021, all new mobile and crawler cranes in our Ehingen factory have been fuelled exclusively with pure HVO fuel (their very first tank of fuel and for test drives and on the test areas). HVO = Fuel from hydrogenated vegetable oils. We can proudly convey that all the diesel engines we install have been tested in detail. Furthermore, our cranes have undergone extensive testing and trials with customers in the field and at our test department using pure HVO (100%). All our new cranes are HVO-ready.
What are the aftermarket services offered for your mobile crane customers?
Liebherr, in India, has a strong base with capable sales and service teams with dedicated spares team who are always at our customer’s service. We have bases across the breadth of India. Primarily, operating from Mumbai and Kolkata.
Additionally, Liebherr provides all sorts of services like Annual Rate Contracts (ARC), Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), Liebherr crane refurbishment, Used Liebherr cranes acquisition and resale and reconditioning of older cranes.
Used cranes sales: Regardless of whether you want a mobile or crawler crane, a large or small one, nearly new or somewhat older – our used crane portal has the largest selection of used cranes in the world.
Our machines feature tested quality, short lead times and low finance. Liebherr cranes are durable and retain their value well. Depending on the crane and requirement, used cranes may be sold as seen, can be repaired or completely refurbished and supplied with a warranty.
With technical expertise and decades of experience, our repair specialists spruce up the cranes to the level required by the customer. We upgrade fairly recent machines so that they feature the latest technology. That makes them nearly new and a genuine alternative to buying a new crane.
What is your outlook on India’s mobile cranes market? What are your future plans?
As a technology company, Liebherr pursues the goal of making a decisive contribution towards technological progress. We have significantly invested in the development of new products that will take us ahead into safer, modern and sustainable world.
Coming to India’s mobile crane market, we believe it is headed towards becoming a huge revenue generating sector over the next couple of decades, a strong and consistent demand will be seen as the government heavily pushes for infrastructure development and thus creating more opportunities for Liebherr to capitalise on the requirements that will be generated. We have excellent product portfolio with diverse product range for every and all solution that the Indian industries are looking for.
