CLAAS India plans to expand India footprint through maize and forage harvesters

German automotive major CLAAS India is looking to expand its footprint in the country through the introduction of new maize and forage harvesters both of which are in their design stages and would be customized to suit Indian needs.

The Company, which at present sells around 1,000 combine harvesters annually out of the total market of around 4,500 harvesters, plans to expand its annually capacity by another 500 units in the near future.

“Most of the new machines would be made from the existing Morinda plant near Mohali where we have the facility to scale up our production to 2000 units per year,” Mrityunjaya Singh, Claas India Managing Director, told Business Standard.

Singh said the new maize and forage harvesters are already sold globally but for India, the company would customize it to suit local conditions and needs.

“In India, the distance between rows in maize fields is less while the requirement also varies depending upon their use like some want maize with skins while others want them without skins. Hence, our harvester has to adapt to all these Indian requirements,” Singh said.

He said the maize harvester is expected to be a big product for the company because of government’s emphasis on driving maize cultivation in place of paddy as a part of crop diversification initiative in northern India.

At present, the company is one of the major players in the combine harvester segment and sells harvesters with 2.5 meters to 3.2 meters of length. It can be used to harvest wheat, rice, soybean, pulses, and isabgole (sago) by just making a slight change in the cutter heads.

Apart from that, the company also sells imported machines manufactured in its other facilities like rice trans planters from Korea.

CLAAS’ combines work for 1,500 hours in a year in India, while worldwide they work for just around 350-400 hour.

“The rental model is driving up mechanization in India which is why we need to have machines which can work for longer hour,” Singh said. He added that 95 per cent of the company’s customers are hirers.

The company, which has been present in India for the past 25 years first through a joint venture with Escorts and later as an individual entity, wants to make a big splash through maize and forage harvesters.

The Andhra Pradesh government recently issued a tender for packaged forages which can be sold to dairy owners.

“A forage harvester is expected to cost around Rs 2 crore, while a maize harvester is expected to be priced at around 30 lakh and above,” the official said.