December saw another successful Demtech India exhibition and conference being held for the third time, with the first Demtech held in Mumbai in 2019. Mohan Ramanathan, founder and CEO of ACT, knew what he was doing when he took the initiative to start the process of forming the Indian Demolition Association and organising the Demtech India exhibition and conference. From the very beginning, the international trade journal PDi Magazine and the company Riverbends Publishing have supported with marketing to attract international players in the demolition and recycling sector to the Indian market. “Since the beginning, we have received a fantastic response from the Indian demolition industry and domestic and international manufacturers. Without that support, we would not have succeeded. There is no doubt that India is growing at a breakneck pace economically and it has become very clear that this also applies to the Indian demolition and recycling industry since we started IDA and Demtech,” comments Mohan Ramanathan.

A large gathering

The Demtech India 2024 conference was held on 13 December  in Hall 3 at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida, just southeast of New Delhi. Demtech was organised in parallel with the bauma Conexpo India 2024 tradeshow which was held between 11-14 December. The latter attracted a total of 51,118 visitors from 83 different countries, of which just over 80% came from India. Nearly 1,000 companies exhibited, also from 83 different countries, on an area of over 135,000m2. 

The IDA conference was held in a room above Hall 3. The turnout and response from the Indian demolition and recycling industry was at least as good as in 2019 and 2023. However, the fact that bauma Conexpo India was taking place at the same time meant that many participants alternated between visiting the exhibition itself and attending selected lectures. 

“From IDA, we are very happy with the outcome of Demtech India 2024. The tradeshow and conference were different from the previous year, but with the collaboration with Messe München, we have been able to consolidate both the trade association and the position of the tradeshow even more. IDA and Demtech are now definitely here to stay,” commented Shriram Matte, chairman of the Indian Demolition Association and CEO of one of India’s largest demolition and recycling companies.

“I am very happy with the outcome of the conference and the tradeshow. It is a huge event and a lot had to be done. But now we have done it for the third time and are starting to get warm in our clothes. I am already looking forward to the next Demtech,” commented Fazrulla Basha, Secretary of IDA. However, what was missing from 2023’s edition of Demtech India were the live demonstrations. When the tradeshow was held in Bengaluru in 2023, a lot of product demonstrations were held outdoors where visitors had the opportunity to study and test the machines in working environments. 

Many interesting lectures 

The conference day featured many interesting lectures from business people, institutions and manufacturers from India and abroad. After each lecture, a questions and answers session was held providing the audience with the opportunity to ask questions. The day began with the conference welcome address. According to Indian tradition, an oil lamp was then lit by the conference’s guests of honour, Praveen Kumar, CPM/Civil – NCRTC, as well as by Jan Hermansson, PDi Magazine, Mohan Ramanathan, founder and former chairman, Shriram Matte, IDA chairman, Fazrulla Basha, IDA secretary and Akhil Jain, IDA treasurer. The first opening speech of the conference was given by IDA secretary Fazrulla Basha who, together with Shriram Matte and several of IDA’s management team, did an exceptionally good job in organising Demtech 2024.

Manoj Vajpayee, executive director at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation addressed the audience via video link. Vajpayee was also meant to be the chief guest but unfortunately could not be physically present due to other commitments. The  guest of honour, Praveen Kumar, from CPM/Civil – NCRTC, replaced Vajpayee and gave a short welcome speech. Then it was time for the conference’s keynote speaker, Mohan Ramanathan, who gave a perspective on the current state and future of the Indian and international demolition and recycling market. Ramanathan is, as mentioned, the initiator of IDA and Demtech and the CEO and founder of the Indian company ACT – Advanced Construction Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Ramanathan shared a lot of interesting information and data about the Indian demolition market in particular. He estimated the value of the Indian demolition market to be €255M in 2024. By 2030, the value is estimated to increase to around €334M. He estimated that in India today there are more than 2,000 small demolition contractors who carry out most of the work completely manually, often using unsafe methods. To these should be added another 1,000 contractors who use traditional and standard construction machinery in demolition work, either with their own or rented machines. Another approximately 500 companies have their own fairly small machines in their fleet equipped with mainly hydraulic hammers. Furthermore, there are 50 slightly larger contractors with their own heavier machines equipped with various types of silent demolition methods. These demolition contractors also rent equipment to a fairly large extent. Finally, there are 15 to 20 really large demolition contractors who work all over India and own several demolition equipped machines with adapted tools. These contractors also use machines with high demolition booms.

In total, there are almost 3,600 companies in India that work with demolition and recycling in various forms. Converted into percentages, it could be said that approximately 80% of all demolition jobs are currently carried out manually in India, using sledgehammers and the like. Approximately 5% are carried out with hydraulic or petrol powered demolition picks and the same percentage with hydraulic hammers on excavators. Approximately 4% of the jobs are carried out using advanced hole making equipment, such as wall and wire saws. Approximately 3% of the demolition jobs are carried out using hydraulic crushers and pulverisers carried by excavators. Approximately 1% of the jobs are carried out with demolition equipped high rise demolition equipment and the same number of demolition jobs are carried out using explosives. Approximately 1% of the jobs are carried out using remote controlled demolition robots, whilst demolition using scrap shears, hydrodemolition and wrecking balls makes up less than 1%. 

Ramanathan’s conclusion was that there is an enormous amount to do in the Indian demolition market, and the Indian government has for several years, and will for many years to come, provide the conditions for the demolition industry to grow. Between 2019 and 2025 alone, the Indian government will have invested €1.34T in infrastructure. Approximately 71% of this money is earmarked for investments in energy, roads, bridges and railways.. The growth rate in the coming years is estimated at around 7%. In 2019, India’s GDP totalled €2.48T and by 2030 this figure is estimated to be €8.6T. 

GDP per capita was €1,276 in 2019 and is estimated to be €5,373 in 2030. Ramanathan also made an interesting comparison of how big India is. All of Europe and Canada, as well as parts of the Caribbean, would fit on the surface of India. Manufacturers who want to be part of India’s expansion in the coming years are advised to invest if they haven’t already done so. Mohan Ramanathan’s lecture was very well received and led to a lengthy question and answer session afterwards.

More interesting lectures

The day continued with a short visit from representatives from Messe München, the organiser of bauma Conexpo India. Then it was time for a tea break. This was followed by two interesting presentations in a row. Johnson Pereira spoke on the topic of controlled demolition with the right force and using diamond tools. Pereira is the sales manager for the Middle East, India, Turkey and Africa for Lissmac Maschinenbau. The second presentation was about the importance of recycling demolition waste and what the situation is like today in India. The presentation was given by Kshemendra Nath, CEO of Resilient Concrete Solutions.

After lunch, the day continued with two more presentations. Russil Kumar from Ambar Safety Consultants spoke about the importance of following the guidelines that have been developed to make demolition work safer. The second presentation was given by André Brauner, global product manager Epiroc, who highlighted the importance of choosing the right demolition tool for the task. The next speaker was Jan Hermansson, editor in chief of the industry magazine PDi Magazine, who spoke about the industry’s major innovations through history. He highlighted that many of the advanced machines and tools used in demolition and concrete drilling are often very large investments for contractors in countries with a different cost structure than in Europe and the USA. To make the equipment more accessible in markets like India, the purchase prices themselves must be reviewed, and almost a requirement for success in the Indian market, being to have some form of local manufacturing and assembly. He gave an example of the new player in demolition robots ARE Robot, which has decided to start manufacturing in India for customers in India and neighbouring countries.

The day continued with a product presentation from the Chinese manufacturer SANY. Then it was time for Shriram Matte, who highlighted the importance of admitting mistakes in the workplace to reduce risks. Today, far too many accidents happen on Indian construction sites. Regulations need to be tightened considerably and training in the operation of machinery and equipment needs to be given much greater priority. He stated that there is a need to start talking more about the risks and also admitting mistakes made. If the Indian demolition industry is to grow as predicted, accidents and risk taking need to decrease even more. The next presentation was given by PK Kannan, CEO of PK Unique Projects Pvt Ltd, which was about the use of advanced diamond tools and equipment in difficult concrete and steel demolition projects. Kannan highlighted the value of the equipment in such difficult projects needing to be highly accurate and reliable to achieve the best results, efficiency and safety on a project.

As the day drew to a close, it was time for a short coffee break and the last presentation of the day was given by Gaurang Doogursee, CEO of Indian diamond tool manufacturer Dee Tec in Mumbai. Doogursee presented the company and its history and current product range. He also showed the breadth of the range and how Dee Tec’s range of diamond wire has been very successful around the world, and to a large extent, also in the Indian market.

Successful day with an eye on the next Demtech

The conference day ended with a few words from IDA’s treasurer Akhil Jain which was followed by the participants gathering for a joint photo. Demtech India 2024 was once again a very successful gathering, both in terms of the exhibition itself and the conference. Large parts of the Indian demolition and recycling industry gathered in one place, networked and exchanged valuable experiences. We now look forward to the fourth edition being arranged by Demtech. Time and place have not yet been decided, but most likely the next Demtech will be held during the latter part of 2026, probably in Mumbai again.

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