The construction equipment segment in India has something to cheer about from the Budget measures such as more fund allocation to rural roads and highways construction, and announcement of infrastructure status to affordable housing.

The Union Budget 2017 with an agenda to transform, energise and sanitise India is reasonably balanced for an inclusive growth of the Indian economy. A couple of initiatives announced in the budget presented on February 1 bring some cheer to the sector.

Commercial vehicle (CV) industry is the backbone of the economy and while there has been significant investment and development in the sector, truck drivers are essentially an ignored lot despite the vital role they play.

Material and earth movements are the major work content of all infrastructure developments and mining activities. Front-end loaders, backhoe loaders, dozers and application-centric equipment as options for the users to choose from to suit individual requirements.

ContiTech has strategically reorganised its conveyor belt business to focus more on its industrial applications business in the future. For this purpose, the conveyor belt specialist has created the new segment, Industrial Belt Solutions.

Escorts Skill Development, an associate company of Escorts Ltd, launched the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) certification program under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at various locations in Delhi and Haryana.

L&T Construction will develop a skill development training centre on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation´s abandoned school land at Babulban in East Nagpur. The corporation´s standing committee in a meeting has approved the proposal to lease out 75,000 sq ft land to L&T Construction for 30 years.

It is a positive and decisive budget coming especially against the backdrop of the government’s boldest measure of demonetisation. The Finance Minister has spelled out a forward-looking regimen for the infrastructure sector with a total allocation of up to Rs 3.96 trillion.

There was a lot of anticipation and apprehension about Budget 2017. There was enough to satisfy those anticipating, and relief for those who were apprehensive. The big push to expenditure for farmers, rural sector, affordable housing and infrastructure will give a fillip to growth and employment.