Manitowoc Cranes India managing director Raman Joshi said the company used India’s leading construction equipment trade show to demonstrate to industry the company’s commitment to innovation and customer value.

“We also emphasised how those two principles are connected,” Joshi said.

“At Manitowoc, we produce innovative cranes that are more productive and profitable for our customers, meaning we can improve return on investment and overall value for our customers. Innovation and customer value are what drives Manitowoc and the products on show at bC India demonstrate that perfectly.”

Towering over the Manitowoc Cranes booth at bC India were two new Potain tower cranes.

Both cranes are topless MCT models built at the company’s factory in Pune, India.

The larger of the two is the MCT 205 which has a 10 tonne maximum capacity and can lift 1.75t at its maximum jib end of 65 metres.

With a focus on fast erection, the complete upper works for the MCT 205 can be assembled in four lifts.

The heaviest group of components is just 7.9t and the full 65m jib can be placed in a single lift.

Attention has been paid to transportation too, with three jib sections able to fit inside a standard container.

The unit on the stand at bC India 2014 was sold to Mumbai-based contractor Talib & Shamsi Constructions.

“Topless cranes are still relatively uncommon in India,” co-owner Zafar Shamsi explained.

“But our company is known for being a market leader, so it’s important for us to use high-quality and modern equipment to help us complete jobs faster.”

He said they would allow the company to keep pace with the growing time pressures of job sites in India.

The second topless model from Potain making its debut in India was the MCT 85.

Smaller than the MCT 205, it has a 5t maximum capacity and an ability to lift 1.1t at its jib end of 52m.

The practical unit is efficiently easy to transport, needing just two trucks for the entire top portion of the crane.

Again, onsite assembly is simplified as all pre-assembly work is done at the Potain factory in Pune.

Similar to the MCT 205, the MCT 85 can be operated as an internal climbing crane, positioned within the building it is constructing. Mounted on 1.2m mast sections, the crane offers a maximum free-standing height of 33.2m when operating internally.

The MCT 85 at bC India was sold to Pune-based SJ Contracts.

“We really like the abilities the new MCT 85 offers,” company owner Sarubh Jangle said.

“For instance, it can be erected at free-standing heights of up to 47m, which means we can go higher than other cranes in this class without needing to tie the crane to the building. This saves us time and money.”

Aside from presenting its latest innovations, Manitowoc also showed-off the Grove GMK6300L – considered one of the most successful all-terrain cranes of all time with hundreds of the units now working across the globe.

This 300t capacity unit has a main boom of 80m, meaning it has a powerful combination of reach and capacity and, most crucially, its reach is available for many jobs without requiring rigging a fly jib.

Rounding out the product offerings at the Manitowoc Cranes booth was a Potain Igo 26 self-erecting crane.

While hugely popular in Europe for work on smaller job sites, self-erecting cranes remain relatively uncommon in India. However, as the country’s construction output levels continue to rise, the industry is looking for technology that offers greater efficiency for building operations and self-erecting cranes are the perfect answer.

The Igo 26 from Potain has a 3.2t maximum capacity and a working hook height of 20m.

With its 26m jib and an ability to lift up to 1.1t at the end of the jib, the Potain Igo 26 can handle almost all of the lifting work required on a smaller construction project from a single position.

Because self-erecting cranes remain relatively new to so many customers in India, Manitowoc ran live demonstrations of the crane’s capabilities during the trade show.

Potain self-erecting cranes compare favourably with more traditional alternatives because they can be used from the first day of a project, from moving materials to pouring concrete. They are also easy to move around site.

Manitowoc has gradually introduced its new crane range at trade shows around the world in recent weeks, including bauma China and Brazil’s Concrete Show.