SAS Motors launches tractor in Rajasthan

SAS Motors on Tuesday launched the Angad, a tractor for the rural poor, in rural Rajasthan.

"The Angad 240-D comes loaded with a 22 HP single cylinder engine, which is 30 per cent more fuel-efficient than that of any other tractor in the Indian market.

It can be assembled at the tehsil level and repaired by a cycle mechanic in any part of the country reducing maintenance costs by a further 30 per cent," a company official said.

The official said previously the tractors sold in the Indian market were beyond the reach of farmers with small landholdings, who formed the vast majority of the rural population.

The farmers who could afford these tractors were the wealthy ones with large landholdings and the restrictions on social mobility prevented them from using the tractor to provide additional services such as haulage, transportation and rentals.

The use of a tractor hence was effectively constrained to ploughing land that amounted to a mere few days in a year.

With the Angad 240 D targeted at farmers with small landholdings, farmers will be able to provide haulage services for transporting produce, food, water and milk in rural areas at prices that were previously not possible and generate substantial incomes for themselves.

"Interestingly, 95 per cent of Angad's current customers are first time tractor buyers, which further validates this claim," he pointed out.

The Angad 240 D also helps in generating electricity, which when viewed with its ability to provide lower cost transportation in the rural areas, increased prosperity of the population and the creation of employment in the form of mechanics, service engineers and assembly workers has tremendous potential in bolstering the flagging rural economy from a macro perspective.