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The growth prospects of off-highway diesel engines market is obvious in the coming years as the infrastructure equipment will play a major role in the infrastructure creation in the country. <p></p><p> Diesel engines are used to power various equipment used in construction, mining, agricultural, material handling, automobile and industrial verticals. With emission norms taking centre-stage of construction equipment in India, diesel engines market is becoming the focus this year. While construction equipment OEMs are gearing up to meet the upcoming emission regulations, engine manufacturers are helping them by designing and developing engines with the required changes and added components.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Major technology changes</span><br />In line with the global practice of promoting the use of cleaner diesel engines, <a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/web-exclusive/Over-7-Million-FASTags-Sold-as-Sales-Shoot-Up-By-300-/116110" target="_blank">Ministry of Road Transport and Highways</a> on March 5, 2018 issued a notification for implementing BS-IV and BS V emission norms for the engines of wheeled construction equipment from October 2020 and April 2024, respectively. The emission standards are similar to Euro Stage IV and Stage V non-road vehicle. The BS CEV- IV standards are applicable to diesel engines between 37 and 560 kW. A lot of changes are going to take place in diesel engines and components. The engine and equipment OEMs are already on the job to meet the stringent requirements of the new regulations. </p><p>With the BS (CEV) IV emission regulations, all the engine suppliers have to move to electronic engines with an after-treatment system. The major changes are introduction of electronic engines from existing mechanical engine. This will then get coupled with addition of appropriate &quot;after-treatment system&quot;, which will change with respect to various power nodes of engine and the end-customer requirement. In the new emission regime, the engines will have to adapt advanced technologies like Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) for fuel systems, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) for NOx reduction, and Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) for Exhaust After-treatment Systems (EATS). To integrate all the above, engine and EATS consist of several sensors and to manage the performance efficiently, the engine henceforth has to be electronically controlled through an ECU. Errors and malfunctioning of engine and EATS are to be monitored through CAN-based cluster.</p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Getting ready for the changes</span><br />In spite of the positive implications of the new emission regulations on environment, there are many challenges for the engine and equipment OEMs to face in terms of cost, technology adoption, and availability of fuel matching the requirement.</p><p>The new added technologies and components in the engine system to meet the upcoming emission regulations are going to increase the input cost which is going to compel the OEMs for an upward revision of product cost. This may be a burden on the customers as initial cost. But on a long term, it is going to benefit the customers in many ways.</p><p>Many diesel engine players offering products for off-highway applications have geared up to introduce the upgraded products with added features. Volvo Penta will use its tried and tested SCR technology for Indian OEMs when the stringent BS (CEV) IV emission regulations come into effect in October 2020. The company has already introduced electronically controlled engines in India in 2006, independent of stricter emission regulations. Volvo Penta customers today are already prepared for the change as the base engine dimensions remain the same, hence the driveline and engine room does not have to be alternated. Only the exhaust system has to be redesigned, with an easy switch of the current silencer with the new SCR catalyst and its inbuilt silencer.</p><p>The indigenous engine major Kirloskar Oil Engines (KOEL) is also getting ready for the new regime as it has invested significantly in the channel readiness, mainly for digitisation. KOEL is fully geared up for its BS-IV product development. The company offers a complete range of KOEL engines, which covers a vast range of several construction equipment applications such as backhoe loaders, compactors, wheel loaders, motor graders, self-loading concrete mixers, cranes along with multiple other applications, which are going for the stringent BS-IV emissions in October 2020 (wheeled applications). Apart from that, it is also gearing up with KOEL BS-IV products on the &quot;tracked applications&quot; such as excavators which are going for the next level emission regulations in phase II. </p><p><a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/web-exclusive/Ashok-Leyland-receives-LEED-v4-1-Platinum-certification-/115067" target="_blank">Ashok Leyland</a> is the market leader in agricultural harvester combine segment and has also significant presence in industrial equipment market across applications. Leveraging its renowned and rugged engines and the technology leadership with future emission-ready engines for the ensuing BS CEV IV shift, the company is working on significant opportunities across segments and applications with new industrial equipment manufacturers. Ashok Leyland has the advantage of being the first BS VI certified automotive player in India. Its future emission-ready engines have already been validated extensively inhouse and field trials across both four- and six-cylinder variants. The on-highway emission control and technology expertise has been leveraged and best suited for off-highway engine solutions with common series of engines and its BS CEV IV compatible proto-type engines are being successfully validated across various segments of industrial equipment, according to the company. </p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Transition challenges</span><br />In the construction and mining equipment industry, the roll out of the BS IV (CEV) will be challenge because the engines that are currently working on mechanical platform will move on to electronics platform with a lot of sensors. This is going to be a big cost challenge for the equipment industry. The challenge with respect to the availability of fuel and also the cleanliness of the fuel that put into the machine is also a concern.</p><p>The unexpected attack of novel coronavirus on the world has become the new challenge for the industry not only in India but the world over. In India, because of the entire country is under lockdown, the market is reeling under pressure from the business losses incurred to the entire industry. At a time when the construction equipment industry was coming out of the slowdown that gripped last couple of years, the <a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/web-exclusive/An-Open-Letter-to-Finance-Minister/116805">coronavirus</a> attack has made it worse to come out of the slowdown completely. Also the new emission regulations are being implemented at the most difficult time. With the market under pressure, construction equipment OEMs are planning to seek the government to postpone the implementation of BS CEV IV at a later date, according to some reports. However, things will be clear only once the coronavirus is effectively contained globally and the industry comes back to action in full capacity. </p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Market outlook</span><br />According to 6Wresearch, Indian diesel engine market revenues are projected to grow at a <a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/editor--39-s-page/Reviving-the-Railways/116398">CAGR</a> of 4.9 per cent during 2018-23. Though the current slowdown has impacted the market, the market will bounce back as the government has infrastructure development its top priority where equipment will play a major role and engines being the heart of these machines will pick up in the coming years.</p><p></p>