Concreting and construction equipment maker Schwing Stetter India (SSI) unveiled their state-of-the-art Self-Loading Mixer – SLM 4600, a flagship model of the company, for domestic as well as global markets at Guwahati in Assam on Friday.
Addressing a press conference at the launch, VG Sakthikumar, managing director of SSI, said Schwing is the first construction equipment manufacturing company in India to launch a product in this segment and it has been designed for the global market.
“With Indian government giving more push to infrastructure projects and focussing in North-Eastern states, it is more appropriate to launch the SLM in Guwahati,” he said.
Pointing that while machines are in high demand in infrastructure projects, ensuring that machines can be taken easily to difficult terrains where such projects are mostly undertaken is always a constraint, he said.
Moreover, the cost factor and the need for skilled manpower as well as ease in using the machine are also important, he added.
“The SLM 4600 will be useful for contractors involved in smaller projects such as in North Eastern parts. This machine can be taken to difficult locations and with its high output speed, more work can be done in a shorter duration,” the MD further said.
He added that since it is a single-operator machine, the cost of labour will also be saved.
Sakthikumar further said the SSI will try to work out an agreement with the Assam government for skilling local youths.
“We are expecting government officials later this evening and hope something can be initiated,” he said, adding that the SSI has signed an MoU with the Uttarakhand government recently for training local youths in operating its machines.
The top official further said SSI has a long association with projects in North East, with major among them being the Lower Subansiri Hydel Power Project along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, several bridges over the Brahmaputra river in Assam and rail connectivity to all NE state capitals.
He informed that the company currently has five set-up of operations in NE, with the headquarter in Guwahati for the region.
A service centre, which will be the company’s tenth in the country, is also being planned in Guwahati to cater to the NE market as the nearest service centre is currently located near Kolkata, he added.
Incorporated in June 1998 and commencing its manufacturing operations in 1999, Schwing Stetter India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Schwing GmbH, a German concreting machinery manufacturer and a part of the XCMG group.