Doosan Infracore has been stepping up its advance into the fast-growing Indian construction equipment market. The company recently established a local subsidiary for constructing an excavator plant in India. A plot of land will soon be purchased and construction work begun in order to start up operation by the end of next year.

Sr. Vice-president Cho Bong-ho, chief of the Construction BG, says, “We expect Indian demand for excavators to average twenty-six percent annual growth over the next decade, but import duties are very high, at thirty-three percent. Therefore, we’ve decided to build a local plant to facilitate our market entry.”

During the construction of the plant, which will have a 3,000-unit annual capacity, Doosan Infracore will be cultivating dealers and establishing a new branch office in order to build up a local network. The company will also establish a service center that will provide the ability to set Doosan apart from the competition in India and continue to expand market share.

The size of the Indian excavator market today (about 7,000 units a year) looks much like the Chinese market did six or seven years ago. However, company officials predict that the market will be at least as large as China’s is now (33,500 units per annum) by 2016.