B2B PURCHASE - JANUARY 2020 B2B January 2020 | Page 18

RCMME
Industry speaks
We have added 22 new products
to our existing portfolio
W
VG Sakthikumar,
Managing
Director, Schwing
Stetter India
Pvt Ltd, believes
India has a lot
of potential but
the economy in
India has been
taken for granted
because of the
volume and also
there is a big
development gap.
VG Sakthikumar,
Managing Director,
Schwing Stetter India
Pvt Ltd
hat makes you optimistic regarding your products
in the current market scenario?
India is a country of 1.3 billion people and nobody
can say that infrastructure growth is not going to
happen. We cannot compare our development to
many of the European and Asian countries because
there is a big gap in infrastructure, which needs to
be filled at any cost. So, when there is a big gap
and when there is going to be a mechanised way
of construction of doing that, it is not possible
to avoid machines and do all this infrastructure
activity in any other method. So, we need to have
modern machines to build India.The 3 - 4 months
of slowdown in the business should not make one
question the fundamental background in which the
country is operating at this current point of time.
The economy in India has been taken for
granted because of the volume and also there is a
big development gap. There are cities like Mumbai,
Bengaluru and states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu
and Karnataka which has got good development and
on the other hand, you have states like Jharkhand,
Bihar, UP. It’s like a case of two entirely different
states in one single country. It is very important for
any company to continue to innovate and build
on the type of machines. We have opened two
spare stores in Haridwar and Madurai and we have
added 22 new products. Schwing Stetter has always
maintained a good relationship with customers and
they believe in our products.
Do you think that finance aspect plays a major
role even as banks are not willing to go for rental
finance?
It is like getting stuck between devil and the deep
sea. It will automatically develop when there is a
protection for payments and an assured contract
where you are not disturbed then everybody will be
doing rental business only. Now, that is not there.
Today the rental companies at the time of the
payment, which is outstanding, they pay GST and
18
B2B Purchase
January 2020
give their machines and they are not able to collect
the money. So to pay GST, they have to borrow
additional funds,otherwise their accounts will be
locked.
How do you see foresee 2020 in terms of business
strategy?
We are not too hopeful about the revival in 2020.
It can happen in the second half of the year. We
get more revenue and more growth out of the
new product. Our regular product, which is an
established product doesn’t move during this type
of phase (slowdown in economy). You have to
adapt and make required changes according to the
market situation.
What is your take on projects not getting
implemented on time?
The country has a lot of plans but execution is
the key. Whether the contractors and the project
owners are meeting all the timelines set, and are
both of them performing what they’re supposed to
perform in terms of timeline and business, if all this
happens smoothly then rental business will become
attractive again.
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