JCB India outlines ambitious India plans
Our Corporate Bureau
20 May 2005
Hyderabad: JCB India, the Haryana-based wholly owned subsidiary of the $2-billion JC Bamford Excavators Ltd., of UK has ambitious plans for its Indian operations
Inaugurating
a new dealership in Andhra Pradesh, Onkar Singh Sunar, managing director,
JCB India told the press that JCB was expanding operations in India and was
setting up new plants in Pune and Delhi.
He said the company is setting up a new plant in Pune with an investment outlay
of $100 million (Rs 450 crore). The plant would be developed into a manufacturing
hub for the company's markets in South-east Asia and globally. It would manufacture
various parts that go into construction-related equipment and excavators.
The company is also planning to set up a second plant in Delhi with an investment of Rs100 crore.
Sunar said the plant in Pune would be financed through internal accruals. He said, "We are upbeat about the construction industry in India. The country has high requirements of infrastructure and road building and it is not possible to handle all construction work with human support. Therefore, we foresee that that construction-related equipment and excavators will increasingly be used in the country with the market projected to grow by over 50 per cent this year," he said.
Commissioning the company's 37th dealership in the country, Sunar said, "About 50 per cent of new customer additions in the country was through existing clientele. This called for better service facilities. Therefore, we are investing significantly in strengthening existing dealers and expanding the footprint."
In 2004, the company sold about 2,500 units of equipment for various requirements and this year JCB hopes to cross the 7,000-mark driven by increasing usage of construction related equipment.
