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For buyers outside India · from USD 400 · report in two days

Somebody measures it before you pay for it

You have found a machine in India. You are in Dar es Salaam, or Mombasa, or Dubai, and everything you know about it was chosen for you by the man selling it. This is the service that fixes that — an independent inspector standing next to the machine, measuring what a photograph cannot carry.

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01 · Why this exists

Twenty real photographs, and none of them the ones that matter

A seller sends you twenty pictures. All twenty are honest. Not one shows the sprocket teeth, the cylinder rods at full extension, or the welds at the boom foot — because nobody photographs those unless they are looking for a reason not to buy.

The distance is not really the problem. The problem is that every fact you hold about the machine has been selected by the person who wants it gone. An inspection replaces that with measurement: the undercarriage stated as a percentage of life remaining, every hydraulic function timed against the manufacturer's specification, drift measured with a steel rule, and the hour reading checked against wear that cannot be reset.

Think of the fee as replacing the trip — a flight to Hyderabad, three days on the ground, and a machine you still assess in forty minutes because you did not bring a stopwatch and a specification sheet.

What a video cannot carry
  • How it starts cold. Every clip you are sent is of a warm machine, because the seller started it before you called. A warm engine hides hard starting, start smoke, blowby and injector behaviour
  • Undercarriage life. Usually the largest single cost in a tracked machine, and a measurement rather than an appearance. Good shoes bolt onto a finished chain perfectly well
  • Tired hydraulics. A consistent fifteen to twenty per cent down against specification looks entirely normal on film. You cannot see a percentage — it has to be timed
  • Whether the hours are true. The reading is a number on a screen. Pedal rubber and seat collapse are physical facts

02 · Scope

What we do, and what we are not

The right-hand column matters as much as the left. A firm that is vague about the limits of its own service is telling you something about how it will write your report.

We do
  • Stand next to the machine in India and grade it A–E on the same protocol as any domestic inspection
  • Measure the undercarriage item by item as percentage of life remaining, rather than describing it
  • Time every hydraulic function against the manufacturer's specification, and measure drift over five minutes
  • Verify the hour reading against physical wear, and say so plainly when the two disagree
  • Photograph to a fixed 62-shot schedule, so your machine and the next one can be laid side by side
  • Put the title, ownership and hypothecation position in writing before you send money
  • Itemise what the machine needs and what each item costs, in rupees and in dollars
  • Tell you honestly whether we think it will pass conformity — as an opinion, clearly labelled as one
We do not
  • Issue a PVoC, G-CAP, SABER, ITAC or any other conformity certificate. We are not an accredited body — those come from SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or TÜV, and no report of ours substitutes for one
  • Act as your customs broker, freight forwarder or clearing agent
  • Hold the machine, hold title to it, or hold your money at any point
  • Sell you a machine, or take a commission from the seller on a machine we inspected for you
  • Tell you whether to buy. We state condition and cost; the decision stays yours

03 · Fees

Quoted in dollars, paid before the visit

Payment in advance is not a credit policy. It is the reason the grade can be trusted — we are not waiting on your purchase to get paid, so we have no reason to tell you it is a good machine.

Pre-shipment inspection · machines standing in India
Service What you get Fee
Pre-shipment condition report Machine within the Hyderabad corridor. The full graded report on a machine standing in India — 62 photographs, 3 videos, measured undercarriage, timed hydraulics, drift test, itemised deferred cost, and the title and hypothecation position in writing. USD 400
Beyond the corridor Covers travel. Availability confirmed before payment, never after. The same report where the machine is standing elsewhere in India. Ask before you assume — sometimes the honest answer is that we do not yet have an inspector who can competently grade that machine in that place. USD 550
Two or more at one site Per machine. Same site, same day. Several machines graded and ranked in one visit, with a condition comparison — the usual case when a trader is buying a batch. USD 300
Title and ownership check only Useful as a first filter before paying for a full report. Registered owner, chassis number match, hypothecation and financier NOC position. No mechanical inspection. USD 150
Re-inspection after repairs For a machine already in our record. Where the seller has agreed to rectify what the first report found, and you want it confirmed before the machine is loaded. USD 250

Bank transfer in USD. Where the machine is outside the Hyderabad corridor we confirm an inspector is available before you pay, never after. Domestic prices are on the pricing page and are lower — an inspection for a buyer standing in the next district is a different job in one respect only, which is what it replaces.

04 · The thing everybody gets wrong

The age limit you were quoted is probably a car rule

Nearly every age cap repeated about used machinery in these markets is written into road-vehicle legislation. A tracked excavator is not presented for road registration, and frequently routes through machinery conformity instead — where the cap is far longer, or absent.

Read this as a list of questions to ask, not answers to rely on
Market Number you were quoted What it is written for Where plant usually sits instead
Kenya 8 years Road motor vehicles Tracked excavators treated as special-purpose plant, with a much longer cutoff
Nigeria 12 years Road motor vehicles Machinery currently exempt from mandatory SONCAP; the cap is not a plant rule
Ghana 10 years Road motor vehicles Machinery routes through G-CAP pre-shipment inspection instead
UAE 7 years Road registration Non-road-registered plant runs on ECAS / EQM conformity
Saudi Arabia 5 years Road motor vehicles Off-road plant routes via SASO machinery safety and SABER
Tanzania None — No age ban; machinery explicitly exempt from age-based excise
Nepal Prohibition Second-hand goods generally Used plant needs a case-by-case exemption; new imports are normal
One exception worth knowing

A wheeled backhoe loader drives on roads, has road lights and a road speed — exactly the profile a vehicle rule was written to catch. If you are importing a backhoe, assume the vehicle rule applies until somebody in authority tells you in writing that it does not.

The full position, and the question to put in writing →

Last checked against source in June 2026. Summarised for orientation only — this is not customs or legal advice, and positions change. Confirm your machine, year and HS line in writing with the destination authority before committing funds.

05 · Markets

Where India-origin machines actually go

We inspect machines in India for buyers anywhere. These are the markets we have written up, because they are the ones with a proven India-origin flow and a rule set worth explaining.

Tanzania

Inspected at origin

The most permissive used-equipment regime of the group, and a proven India-origin channel already runs into it — Tata Hitachi machines are imported from India by established Dar es Salaam traders. A buyer here is often purchasing a specific Indian machine he has never stood next to.

Used regime
Permissive. No age ban on machinery, and the age-based excise that hits used cars explicitly does not apply to earth-moving equipment.
Duty
Roughly 0–10% depending on classification, plus 18% VAT and the railways development levy (EAC CET).
Conformity
TBS PVoC — Certificate of Conformity, mandatory pre-shipment.
Gateway
Dar es Salaam — also the Central Corridor gateway to Zambia, Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda and southern DRC.
Confirm in writing with
Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and your clearing agent
Importing a used excavator into Tanzania from India →

Nepal

No pre-shipment

India supplies close to all of Nepal's excavator imports, overland through Raxaul–Birgunj with no seaport involved. Same machines, same makes, same paperwork conventions — and a buyer can reach the machine in a day, which changes what an inspection is for.

Used regime
Gated. A conditional prohibition on second-hand goods has been in force since September 2022, so used equipment needs a case-by-case exemption. New machines import normally.
Duty
Around 15% basic customs duty plus 13% VAT on CIF, with Treaty of Trade preference for India-origin goods.
Conformity
No pre-shipment conformity scheme. Certificate of Origin is standard.
Gateway
Overland Raxaul → Birgunj / Sirsiya ICD. Kolkata, Haldia and Vizag feed it by rail.
Confirm in writing with
Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) and Nepal Customs
Importing construction equipment into Nepal from India →

United Arab Emirates

Inspected at origin

The region's re-export hub, with a dense used-machine trading cluster at Sharjah Industrial Area, Ras Al Khor and JAFZA. Traders here buy India-origin stock to move on, and they buy on condition rather than on relationship — which is exactly what a graded report is for.

Used regime
Open. A dedicated trading licence and Jebel Ali free-zone bonded warehousing allow duty-free re-export. The publicised seven-year age cap governs road registration, not off-road plant.
Duty
5% of CIF under the GCC unified tariff.
Conformity
ECAS / EQM certification and a Certificate of Conformity.
Gateway
Jebel Ali (DP World) for breakbulk and RoRo; Khalifa Port has a RoRo terminal.
Confirm in writing with
MOIAT and UAE Federal Customs
Buying used Indian machinery into the UAE →

Kenya

Inspected at origin

The Northern Corridor gateway, feeding Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and eastern DRC as well as its own market. Workable with the right paperwork, and the age question here is more misunderstood than in any other market on this list.

Used regime
Workable. The well-known eight-year rule applies to road motor vehicles, not to tracked excavators. KEBS treats large construction equipment as special-purpose with a far longer cutoff. A road-going backhoe may attract more scrutiny than a tracked machine.
Duty
Generally 0% on capital goods under the EAC tariff, plus 16% VAT, 2.5% IDF and 2% RDL.
Conformity
PVoC — Certificate of Conformity, mandatory pre-shipment.
Gateway
Mombasa. A large share of volume transits onward to Uganda.
Confirm in writing with
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and Kenya Revenue Authority
Importing a used excavator into Kenya from India →

Ghana

Inspected at origin

The only market on this list where inspection at origin is not optional. G-CAP is mandatory before the machine leaves India, and it cannot be remedied after arrival — so a buyer who gets this wrong has a machine stuck at Tema.

Used regime
Gated by pre-shipment inspection. Used goods are inspected before leaving the country of origin, and arrival without a certificate blocks clearance. Industrial machinery and used goods are classed High-Risk.
Duty
Variable by line, plus mandatory G-CAP.
Conformity
G-CAP — mandatory pre-shipment conformity assessment, performed at origin by an accredited body.
Gateway
Tema for the south and Accra; Takoradi for the western mining belt.
Confirm in writing with
Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and your appointed G-CAP body
Importing a used excavator into Ghana from India →

Nigeria

No pre-shipment

Structurally the most open market in West Africa on paper — zero duty and machinery exempt from mandatory SONCAP — but price-first, and with real currency risk on the buyer's side. Worth covering, not worth leading with.

Used regime
Open on paper. Machinery is currently exempt from mandatory SONCAP. The twelve-year cap is a vehicle rule. Form M, CRF and PAAR are still required.
Duty
0% under ECOWAS CET Band 0 — a genuine landed-cost advantage.
Conformity
SONCAP Import Permit for exempt machinery.
Gateway
Tin Can and PTML at Lagos for RoRo; Lekki Deep Sea; Onne for the east.
Confirm in writing with
Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Nigeria Customs Service
The age limit you were quoted is probably a car rule →

Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and South Africa are distributor-led new-equipment markets with tight used-import regimes. We will still inspect a machine in India for a buyer there — there is simply less to usefully say about the route, and we would rather say nothing than pad it.

06 · Terms

The rules do not bend for distance

Paid in advance, in full, before the visit

The same rule as every domestic inspection, and the reason the grade is worth reading. We are not waiting on your purchase to get paid, so we have no reason to tell you it is a good machine. Bank transfer in USD; the account details come with the quote.

We are not a conformity body

We cannot issue a PVoC, G-CAP, SABER, ITAC or any other certificate — those come from accredited bodies such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek and TÜV, and nothing in our report substitutes for one. What we give you is the commercial condition the certificate never covers, and an opinion on whether the machine will pass. The opinion is labelled as an opinion.

We do not sell you the machine

We hold no stock and take no commission from a seller on a machine we inspected for you. If we did, the report would be worth nothing to you — which is the whole point.

The grade is not negotiable

Not by the seller, not by you, not by us. A grade that can be softened is worth nothing to the next person who reads one.

The report is yours

It is released to you and to nobody else. We do not send it to the seller, and we do not tell the seller what it said.

07 · Questions

Asked before every first overseas inspection

Can you issue a PVoC, G-CAP or SABER certificate?

No. We are not an accredited conformity body and nothing in our report substitutes for a conformity certificate — those are issued by bodies such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek and TÜV. What we produce is the commercial condition report a conformity certificate never contains. If a supplier tells you our report can stand in for the certificate, they are wrong, and it is worth wondering what else they have told you.

How does an overseas buyer pay, and when?

Bank transfer in USD, in full, before the visit — the same rule as every domestic inspection. It is not a credit policy, it is the reason the grade is worth reading: we are not waiting on your purchase to get paid, so we have no reason at all to tell you it is a good machine. Account details come with the quote.

Do you sell machines, or find them for me?

We do not sell you the machine and we take no commission from a seller on a machine we inspected for you. Holding stock or earning on the transaction would make the grade worthless to you, which would defeat the entire point. We inspect the machine you found, or the one your agent found.

What if the machine is not in Hyderabad?

Ask before you assume. Beyond the Hyderabad corridor the fee is higher to cover travel, and sometimes the honest answer is that we do not yet have an inspector who can competently grade that machine in that place — in which case we say so rather than send someone who cannot. Availability is confirmed before you pay, never after.

Will you tell me whether to buy it?

No. We state condition and cost, in measurements, and the decision stays yours. Anyone who tells you a machine is a good buy is either guessing or has a reason to want the deal done.

Does the seller see the report?

No. It is released to you and to nobody else, and we do not tell the seller what it said. What you choose to share in a negotiation is entirely your business.

Can you inspect several machines at once?

Yes, and it is usually what a trader actually needs. Two or more machines at one site on the same day are graded and ranked together with a condition comparison, at a lower fee per machine.

How long does it take?

Two to three hours on site for a single machine, and the report is with you within two days of the visit. Where the seller has to make the machine available cold and with an operator, allow a few days between booking and visit.

What if the report kills the deal?

Then it has done its job, and it cost you a fraction of what the machine would have. That happens often enough that we say it plainly: a fee that only ever confirms good news would not be worth paying.

08 · Request it

Which machine, and where is it standing

Tell us the machine and the city it is in. We reply the same day with whether we have an inspector who can competently grade it there, the fee, and the earliest date he can go.

Put your country in the location field

The form asks where the machine is — that should be the Indian city. Add your own country in the message so we quote in dollars and reply at a sensible hour for you.

Or just send it on WhatsApp →
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Tell us the machine and where it is. We reply same day, with the inspector's name and the earliest date.

If you do not know the model, the chassis plate photograph tells us.

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