Escorts in pact with Bangla firm

Escort India is set to manufacture tractors in Bangladesh through a joint venture with the Nitol-Niloy group.

The plant, to be set up in Kishoregunj district of Bangladesh, is expected to go into production by this year-end with 1,000 tractors, which is half of the estimated demand in the country, Nitol-Niloy group chairman Mohd Abdul Matlub Ahmed, said.

Escorts and the Bangladeshi group had signed a memorandum of understanding during Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to India a few days ago. A formal agreement will be signed in May, Ahmed said.

He said the Nitol-Niloy group would be the major partner in the JV. This is the fourth instance the company's has entered into a tie-up with an Indian firm. The group had earlier tied up with the Tatas in the automobile sector, the Birlas for Grasim cement and Blowplast.

According to Ahmed, an attractive export market for tractors exist in north-eastern India and Myanmar. Plans are afoot to export 3,000 tractors to Myanmar. Each tractor will be priced at $6,000, he said.

Ahmed said his company would also manufacture agriculture implements. Given the narrow manufacturing base in Bangladesh, the country needed such joint venture projects, he added.