Deere to set up new plant in India, invest $100 million

Deere & Company is expanding its footprint in the Indian market by investing about $100 million (Rs 450 crore) to increase capacity at its existing facility in Pune and to set up another plant. The investment is expected to double the company’s production capacity in the country.

The company, a leading global manufacturer of farm equipment, is developing agriculture applications for harvesting rice at its design centre at Pune to cater to markets in south-east Asia.

David Everitt, President, Agriculture and Turf Division, Deere & Company said, “Our technical centre in Pune is now the headquarters for developing smaller tractors of 50 HP and less for global markets. The design team here is working on products for the Indian market which would also be customised for exports to other countries in south-east Asia.” The range would include tractors, harvesters and planting equipment for rice cultivation.

The technical and design centre in Pune is second such centre for the company outside its headquarters at Moline, Illinois.

The Pune design centre has a workforce of 2,000 employees. While the centre in US designs larger tractors for American markets, the centre in Germany develops mid-size farm equipment.

The company wants to double business to $50 billion by 2018 and is focusing on growing business in six geographic regions –- South America, US, Canada, Russia, China and India. Samuel R Allen, chairman and chief executive officer, Deere & Company informed, “India is the largest market for small tractors in the world. Our sales are higher in other geographies, but here we expect to grow five times over the next few years. It made sense to shift design base for smaller tractors to the country to cater to markets in the region.”

Deere & Company which sells tractors under the brand ‘John Deere’ exported 15,000 units from India last year. The company registered sales of 35,000 units in the domestic market in 2010. It has also firmed up plans to recruit 1,500 people across the country this year. Deere, at present, has a workforce of around 5,500 employees in India.