India sales set to exceed China, says Hitachi

Hitachi Construction Machinery has forecast its sales in India will outstrip those in China for the first time this year.

According to the firm’s estimates for this fiscal year, its annual sales in India will grow 43%, to 57.8 billion yen (US$ 576 million).

In the forecast, Hitachi said it anticipated 8% of its sales coming from India, compared with just 4% in the previous year.

Conversely, Hitachi's sales in China are expected to account for just 7% this year, compared with 14% in 2015.

According to a report by KPMG India, the country’s fast-growing real estate and construction sector is expected to generate 75 million jobs by 2022.

The report also stated that India would become the third largest construction market globally by 2030, with a total value of more than US$1 trillion.

According to KPMG India, nearly 110 million houses will be required by 2022, in urban as well as rural India, to provide homes for the country's expanding population.