India's Gemini invests in powered access

Indian rental company Gemini Equipment Rentals PVT Ltd has made its first investment in self-propelled aerial platforms, ordering 25 MEC scissor lifts and considering placing further orders for booms and Spider type machines.

Rajiv Sethi, founder and managing director of Gemini, told Access International at the APEX exhibition that the first 15 MEC scissors would be delivered in a month's time; "It's too premature to be ordering 100s of machines. Our biggest competitor is scaffolding."

Gemini is not a newcomer to the access market, having rented Hek mast climbing work platforms for the past 15 years.

Meanwhile, Gemini is one of six Indian rental companies who met in Bombay on 5 September to create the first ever Indian Equipment Rental Association. The six were Gemini, Quipo, Gemmco, TIL, Gremach and Jindal Earthmovers.

Mr Sethi, who is the association's first chairperson, told Access International; "Rental is not really publicised in the country. We want to become accepted as an industry, and to have a common set of rules and benefits both for customers and rental companies. We will have a heavy emphasis on safety issues and the environment."