Overland plans Rs 150-cr truck assembly plant for Sinotruk range

Sinotruk, with global revenues of $15 bn, has presence in 40 countries worldwide with eight overseas plants

Sinotruk, the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of state-owned truck maker China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Company Limited (CNHTC), has tied up with Hyderabad-based Overland Trucking to introduce its range of mining trucks in India.

As part of the tie-up, Overland, which has presence in the Indian mining space and distribution, would invest between Rs 100 crore and Rs 150 crore in setting up an assembly line for Sinotruk's portfolio of heavy-duty, medium, light, special-purpose and military trucks and buses in Telangana district.

"The idea is to maximise local content and create value for the customers. We will approach the state government for allotment of 20 acre for the assembly line. The facility should be up and running by the end of 2016," A Rajashekar Rao, director of Overland Trucking, told mediapersons here on Wednesday.

Sinotruk, with global revenues of $15 billion, has presence in 40 countries worldwide with eight overseas plants with an installed manufacturing capacity of 300,000 heavy-duty trucks a year. It exports its products to 100 countries and regions.

Announcing the launch of the company's heavy-duty truck and tipper for the Indian mining sector, Zhang Houqin, president (marketing and sales - South Asia, West Asia and North Africa) of Sinotruk, said the company was focusing on the Indian market where the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment had been growing at over 20 per cent and expected to grow further with the government's focus on infrastructure development in the country.

"After China, India is the most attractive market for us," Houqin said, adding that the company was targeting to sell 400 trucks in the domestic market by the end of 2016, and expected the volumes to touch 1,800 units in the next year.