Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) expects its construction and mining machinery business to grow at least 20 per cent in the next fiscal year with the company planning to double sales in the next five years.

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In an interview to PTI, Arvind K Garg, Senior Vice President and head of L&T's Construction and Mining Machinery business, said, "If you ask me what the plan for the coming fiscal year is, definitely our construction and mining machinery business will grow at least 20 per cent.

And, "as we have to meet the target of growing or doubling our sales in the next five years, along with profitability, we will have to invest in our service capabilities.

This financial year, we also launched a mini excavator, the Komatsu PC35, which will help fuel growth," Garg said.

Larsen & Toubro and Komatsu Ltd entered into a joint venture in 1998 to manufacture construction equipment and hydraulic components in India.

From 1998 to 2013, the joint venture company was manufacturing hydraulic excavators at its facility in Karnataka. After that, it was jointly decided that Komatsu would focus on manufacturing and L&T would focus on distribution and after-sales.

Later, L&T bought Komatsu's stake in the Bengaluru plant, while Komatsu shifted its manufacturing facilities to Chennai.

At present, Komatsu manufactures hydraulic excavators and a few dump truck models at its Chennai facility. However, L&T is entirely responsible for customer interaction, pre-sales, after-sales, service, spare parts, and warranty.

"It has turned out to be an excellent partnership between us... They manufacture, and we sell and handle the after-market," Garg said.

The company, he said, will grow at least 15 per cent in the current financial year.

"We recognised that this would be a very special year... With elections... And there could be some restrictions on the government's spending for various reasons. We targeted 15 per cent growth and will achieve that.

"We as a company, are now embarking on an initiative, called the Lakshya Vision Plan. It will be a five-year strategic plan that will envisage where we will be in the next five years," Garg said.

Almost all Komatsu machines today are compliant with biofuel, meaning all its machines can run on B20 biodiesel -- a 20 per cent mix of ethanol and 80 per cent of fuel -- he said, adding that "we are now trying to upgrade to B30".

A 30 per cent ethanol will bring down fuel cost further, the company said.

L&T Construction & Mining Machinery -- a business vertical of Larsen & Toubro -- is almost 80 years old. It pioneered the introduction of hydraulic excavators and vibratory compactors in India.