Linnhoff India is a supplier for asphalt and concrete plants for the road construction industry in India. Ashok Tanna, managing director, recently spoke about Linnhoff India’s vision to sustain and succeed in the Indian market. “With 65 percent of market share our core business strength is in asphalt plants, however we should not depend on only one market. We have decided to diversify the products in the concrete batching plant like pre-cast, PQC, lot of housing etc.”

According to Tanna, it’s the aftermarket that is currently thriving in India. “The aftermarket plays a very critical role in the success of our business. Our main mission is to strengthen our after sales to the point where the customer is 100 percent satisfied with the product and also with the company. We want to make our customer feel that “wow” factor regarding quality, esthetic, operational costs and after-sales service.

Utilizing Nord products has played a significant role in Linnhoff India’s success. “Changing to Nord products has helped us shorten delivery times and reduce costs,” Tanna added. “For our drive requirements, Nord has been associated with Linnhoff for more than15 years with our parent company in Singapore. We brought the same association to India once we started manufacturing in 2013.”

Linnhoff has installed nearly 98 percent of its drive units from Nord. “Apart from offering good products, Nord has delivered excellent service, support and competitive prices. We would like to appreciate the people behind the product, the company and the policy behind it," said Tanna.

The company has huge market potential in the rural part of India. Roads are classified under a time-honoured system into National Highways (NHs), State Highways (SHs), Major District Roads (MDRs), Other District Roads (ODRs) and Village Roads (VRs), with well-recognized standards for construction and maintenance laid out in respect of each category. A rural segment totaling more than 5.2 million kilometers has been completely ignored in India. “And the government is still focusing on highways consisting 125,000 Kms of national highways & 700,000 Kms of state highways," he added.

Tanna said the organization has already imagined a gigantic boom in the road construction market in the near future. “It will definitely take some time but we are positive with our new government rural development plan,” he added. “The key is to be honest to your customers. One should always be certain about their commitments. In India, we value words more than written documents so we should always respect our words and be truthful.”