Construction equipment after a project halt

What happens

Excavators, backhoe loaders and wheel loaders on a public project are paid through the main contractor, who is paid by the state. When state payments pause, the contractor stops paying sub-contractors and machine owners. The machines are idle within two to three weeks; instalments are missed a month after that.

What we learned

On an earlier irrigation project halt, 64 machines financed by us went idle at once. Owners who moved their machines to another site within 60 days kept paying; 49 of 64 loans stayed under 30 DPD. The ones that stayed parked, waiting for the payments to resume, mostly rolled to 90+.

What to do

1. Find out which project each machine was on and who the main contractor is. The case should say this.
2. Ask when payments are expected to resume, and how the owner knows. A dated letter from the department is worth more than the contractor's word.
3. Help with redeployment. Our dealers and other CE borrowers often know of sites that need machines. A machine earning ₹1.8 L a month on another site is better than a rescheduled loan.
4. Reschedule one instalment if the machine is moving to a new site and the owner needs a month to get paid (KB-005).
5. Watch GPS idle hours (U3). If the machine is still idle 30 days after the call, arrange a field visit.

Signals to watch

GPS idle (U3), e-way bills down (U5), district event (E1), bureau score drop (B1) and new borrowing elsewhere (B2).