Thomas Loeffler_Construction Equipment_ProjectsMonitor—Thomas Loeffler, Chief Executive Officer, bC Expo India Pvt. Ltd

As chief executive officer of bC Expo India Pvt. Ltd, Thomas Loeffler is responsible for organising and conducting bC India, a joint venture between Bauma and Conexpo. Conexpo, which happens every three years in Las Vegas, USA, is the second biggest construction equipment event in the world. Loeffler discusses Bauma at length with Jibran Buchh.

Since the first edition of bC India in 2011, the economic scenario in general and infrastructure funding in particular have changed. What is your view on the construction equipment sector in 2013?
Well, yes, there has been slowdown in the first quarter of 2012. Now as far as 2013 is concerned I believe it is going to be better, because even when there is slowdown, the urbanisation will continue. There is a gap in Indian infrastructure which needs to fill and henceforth infrastructure funding will continue, and exhibitions like Bauma Expo will be a good platform for generating revenues.

We need to understand that the construction equipment market is diversified and not all the segments of construction equipment would go down.

What are some of the major changes at bC India 2013?
The previous event of Bauma Expo held in Mumbai envisaged the space of 88,000 sq. metres and the upcoming expo in 2013 will measure around 150,000 sq. metres. So the demand is huge. Those who did not get chance to participate last time are participating and, on the other hand, the previous participants have bought more space because of good response.

How would you compare Bauma in Germany and China with that in India?
Well, it can’t be denied that Bauma Expo is the biggest event in the world for construction equipment sector. Bauma China is focused on the Asian market and with that it is the biggest event in Asia. Six BC Expo in China have taken place; it started with 40,000 sq. metres (Year 2002) to 300,000 sq. metres (Year 2012) which is huge.

Germany remains number one contender. The expo in Germany occupies 555,000 sq. metres which is the biggest event in the world, regardless of any topic.

bC India is a joint venture between Bauma and Conexpo. Conexpo happens every three years in Las Vegas, USA, which is the second biggest construction equipment event in the world.

Now bC India wants to have similar quality to that of Bauma and Conexpo when it comes to exhibitor’s portfolio.

The biggest difference is that we don’t have an exhibition centre in India which can hold an exhibition of big magnitude in a professional way. This is why we have to go to the Bandra-Kurla Complex, building everything from zero, from levelling the ground to erecting the structures.

With proper infrastructure, it would be great to organise such an event on a big scale in India, similar to that of Shanghai and Germany.

What is your view on the Indian equipment rental market?
They are most welcome to the expo. Well, there is a good market share of rental equipment here in India, so all the rental companies can come to buy equipment from bC India and then further rent it.


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