Benefits Rural Roads Enhancing Income Opportunities for the Rural Poor

The major difference in Indian roads compared to those of the developed countries is that even today around 94% of the roads In India are small and medium (rural and district) roads whereas these percentages in developed countries are usually less than 30%. As India is a highly populated country there is already some form of road connectivity available in most parts and the further development of these roads will be more of a case of upgradation/development than a new construction.

The current motor graders available in India today except RoadMaster are in a price and operating cost range which makes them unaffordable for use by the small contractors. RoadMaster motor graders on the other hand give the lowest cost per spreading and grading not only with conventional motor graders but also with manual laborers which possibly can be the most basic form of spreading and grading making it the most value for money spreading and grading option in India today viable for even the smaller road contractors.

The second biggest problem is in the size of the motor graders. Most of the rural roads are built passing small towns and villages where settlements usually come up adjoining the roads due to better transportation access. This further narrows the space available to travel and work for motor graders. Also since these rural roads connect several villages, the traffic cannot be stopped while constructing the road as this is the only means of transport so the graders need to be compact enough to be able to let vehicles to pass without having to get off the road. The smallest village roads in India are 3 meters wide with a shoulder of approximately 0.75m on either sides giving a total width of around 4.5 meters. RoadMaster graders with overall width at 2.1 meters allow for a space of approximately 2.4 meters for other vehicles to pass while working on the road. This is not possible on bigger graders due to the higher width coming around 2.4 meters.

The third reason why imported graders will not be able to work in smaller rural roads is the complexity in design and scarcity of dealer outlets. As rural roads are mostly in interiors in case of breakdown it will firstly take a technician days to reach the site and inspect the issue and then few more days to get the spare parts and get the machine up and running. Whereas due to the simple design of RoadMaster graders the breakdowns are less and even in case of some repair these are easy to identify and correct which can be accomplished locally with the help of qualified service engineer. The spare parts being easily available as it is a Made in India machine also adds to the faster uptime for RoadMaster motor graders.

The fourth important aspect is the quality of finish of graded material. Despite being a slightly smaller machine the quality of camber/grading with RoadMaster is comparable to that of any imported motor grader. As a result of this there is no difference in the end result in terms of quality of work.

The fifth important reason is that not only are RoadMaster motor graders designed for India but are also extensively tested in India in different applications and conditions before launch which has ensured its performance in the Indian conditions so that the customers can be rest assured that RoadMaster will accomplish the tasks it is put up to.

The sixth important reason is that Mahindra is an Indian customer centric brand which will be there for their customers no matter what. This cannot be said for the other international brands which can shut shop in India and go back leaving their customers stranded with the machine but without proper spare parts and service support.

Apart from these there are many other tangible and intangible benefits, but these benefits are themselves sufficient enough to consider RoadMaster motor graders as a superior option for spreading and grading of road material in small and medium roads.

The proof of this is in the RoadMaster motor graders sold in India in last two years. Out of the over 500 graders sold many are being used in constructing rural roads helping build an #Atmanirbhar Bharat.