ElectroMech has entered into a joint venture with Zoomlion for the manufacture of tower cranes

Pune-based ElectroMech is a manufacturer of overhead cranes, gantry cranes, electric wire rope hoists and customised material handling solutions. Claimed to be the largest manufacturer of overhead cranes in India in terms of volumes, the company has a manufacturing facility at Pune. The company, with tie-ups with Abus of Germany, has now entered into a joint venture with Zoomlion of China for the manufacture of hoisting solutions across several industry verticals.

The JV, utilising ElectroMech's manufacturing base at Pune, will offer two tower cranes, TC 5013 - 5 and TC 5013 - 5G. Aimed at catering to the construction and real estate sector in India, among various other sectors, as mentioned above, the two cranes have been developed after consultation with several developers and contractors. They also take into account Zoomlion's experience in the Indian market. The TC 5013 - 5G, for example, has a safe working load of 5 tonnes, and a tip load of 1.3 tonnes at 50m. The inner climbing model has a mast section that has been designed keeping in mind typical Indian lift shafts. The TC 5013 - 5G can be accommodated in a lift shaft measuring 1.9m x 2.1m, or a floor cut out of 1.38m x 1.5m. Among the host of features that make these cranes easy to use on sites is a quick change device, which requires just a pin to be removed for rapid switching between wire rope falls. Safety is also addressed through various features such as a self-climbing mechanism with anti-drop device, which ensures safety during jacking while erecting the crane and wire rope and axle breakage protection on the trolley for safer operations.

Without revealing the financial participation of each partner in the joint venture, Tushar Mehendale, Managing Director, ElectroMech, mentioned, "The real estate sector in India itself has seen a paradigm shift over a past decade with modern techniques of construction becoming more common across the sector." "Not only metros, but Tier II cities are witnessing previously unseen levels of development and the skylines of cities like Mumbai and Delhi are rapidly changing," he added.

Considered a requirement that is limited to high-rise towers only, tower cranes are being increasingly used for construction towers of lesser heights as well. Driving mechanisation into the construction sector, tower cranes, suitable for projects other than high-rise towers are leading many crane manufacturers to develop suitable models and cost effective solutions. While the ElectroMech Zoomlion tower cranes are one of these, with 70% of the tower cranes sold in India, finding use in the real estate sector, the tower crane industry in India earned a revenue of US $ 93 million in 2011. Riding on the back of increasing demand, the tower crane industry is expected to grow at a rate of more than 20 per cent for the next decade at least. Averred Tushar, "We estimate the market size for tower cranes to be 600 units per year, of which 400 units are required by the real estate sector alone." Responding to a query, Mr Mehendale said work on the upcoming facility at Chennai has been put on hold as of now. "We are keen on utilising the full capacity of the Pune plant before commencing operations at the Chennai plant."

With focus on the Pune plant, and to further expand the market share into existing sectors that ElectroMech caters to, the JV with Zoomlion, going forward is expected to offer new crane models from the Zoomlion's tower crane range. Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Development Company was founded in 1992 and is listed at the Shenzhen Stock Exchanges as well as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company is engaged in R&D and manufacturing of advanced technologies and equipment for key infrastructure projects including construction, energy engineering, environment engineering and transportation engineering projects. The company is worth RMB 7.706 billion, and built over 12000 tower cranes in 2012.