Mini tractor trail leads big players to Rajkot

Following the path of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), several players are looking at Rajkot for setting up manufacturing units of mini tractor, either on their own or by joining hands with local companies.

While M&M has been producing mini tractor in collaboration with city-based Field Marshal Group since 2009 at Rajkot, another city-based Amul Industries Pvt Ltd has forged alliance with Escorts Group for manufacturing mini tractor in the city.

For this, both Amul and Escorts have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August and formed a special purpose vehicle named Adico Escorts Pvt. Ltd. in December 2011.

"Rajkot is the birth place of mini tractors in India. Big players attract to Rajkot as manufacturing is cheaper here as compared to other places. Moreover more than 90 per cent parts are produced in Rajkot or surrounding areas which reduces the production cost," said Rajesh Patel, director, Captain Tractors Pvt. Ltd. (CTPL). CTPL is also in talks with a leading tractor producer for new plant in Rajkot, which the former is expected to announce soon. "We are in the final stages of our talks and will soon join hands with one of the top tractor manufacturers," Patel added, while refusing to divulge further details of the deal. Having started the R&D way back in 1994, CTPL introduced mini tractor in the country. After thorough R&D, the company had launched the first successful mini tractor with 9.5 HP engine in 1998.

"In a very short span, Rajkot is set to become tractor manufacturing hub in India. Low cost manufacturing and easy availability of skill labor is what attracts these giants to Rajkot," said Deepak Patel, managing director of Field Marshal.

According to Deepak Patel, investments worth almost Rs 200-250 crore have already been made in Rajkot by local and national players for mini tractor manufacturing. "Further over Rs 125-150 crore worth investments are expected in near future," he added.

In Rajkot and Saurashtra, about 15-20 companies manufacture mini tractor which have capacity of below 25 HP. Most of the companies are unregistered and hardly 3-5 companies are working in organised way. The Rajkot region alone produces 400-450 units mini tractors every month. Turnover of mini tractors in Rajkot is approximately Rs 300-350 crore.