Support to customers
Sondhi says that a key reason why JCB India has done so well is that it provides the best after sales support to its customers. "We aim to provide immediate and world class assistance to our customers in any part of the country. Currently, we have 59 dealers and 575 service outlets. Our dealers employ over 5,500 people in India who are regularly trained by JCB India to ensure they are always abreast with the latest in the industry. Our dealers have made strategic investments in establishing world class infrastructure/ facilities, which are at par with global standards," he says.
Another huge challenge faced by the CE customers in India is the availability of skilled operators. "A potential shortage of around 20 percent is anticipated by 2015. If the industry grows as predicted, the gap could widen up to 30 percent by 2020," says Sondhi quoting an AT Kearney report. Sondhi believes that a trained operator can certainly increase the machine lifespan as he will reduce the risk of errors and will increase the machine efficiency by handling it right. "While the Government has put an impetus on skills training, a lot of work needs to be done to ensure India's young population is trained and skilled. The need is to ensure OEM-level collaborations and tie-ups with industry bodies to provide affordable vocational training for aspiring employees." JCB India along with its dealer network has set up 11 fully functional operational training centers across India and one in Nepal. It has trained over 20,000 young men as operators till date.
Growth ahead?
The last few years haven't been good for the CE industry in India due to the slump in the infrastructure sector for various reasons. Does Sondhi see the scenario changing now with a new government in place? The answer is in positive. Sondhi believes the new Government should instil a fresh perspective in an economy which is currently battling issues like decline in the infrastructure output growth, high inflation and weak growth etc. It will have to focus on building up investors' confidence in the Indian infrastructure market which has drastically gone down in the past two years.
"We are hopeful to see movement in the infrastructure sector in the second half of the current financial year. The new Government will have to start by unleashing a wave of reforms in multiple sectors particularly in the infrastructure sector. The primary agenda should be to debottleneck stalled infrastructure projects on ground and increase investments in the sector. The infrastructure industry hopes that mechanisms will be put into place to ensure that the top 20 projects of national importance are implemented expeditiously. The need to remove the severe infrastructure deficit across the country is evident and imperative," he says.
Sondhi wants the new government to be equally focussed on the manufacturing industry. He says it should work towards creating employment in the manufacturing sector to ensure equitable growth. "To help India meet its targets of increasing the sector's contribution to the GDP to 25 percent from the current 16 percent, the need is to revisit and implement the National Manufacturing Policy. Reviving manufacturing is critical to the overall growth in India as it will lead to immense employment generation," he says.
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