HYDERABAD: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy laid the foundation stone of a Rs 300-crore eco-friendly tractor-manufacturing plant of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited at Zaheerabad in Medak district on Wednesday.
“It is a pleasure to have a state-of-the-art facility in our state. The company will generate sales of over Rs 4,000 crore and provide employment to locals,” Reddy said.
The facility, spread over 100 acres, will have an installed capacity to produce one lakh tractors a year and will be the largest tractor manufacturing unit of the $ 11.1 billion company. It will be the company’s eighth tractor production plant in the country. The highest production capacity is 70,000 tractors at its Nagpur facility. According to M&M, it will employ over 1,600 persons at the upcoming Zaheerabad facility where production will commence in 15 months and reach the peak capacity in three years. The company will also set up ancillary units to cater to its tractor and other automobile units. The tractors business contributes over 22 per cent to M&M’s overall business.
“Andhra Pradesh is the second largest tractor market for us. One in every three tractors sold in the state is from M&M. Likewise, the state is the third largest market for our automobile business,” said Pawan Goenka, president of automotive & farm equipment wing of Mahindra & Mahindra.
The company has, in effect, acquired and revived the loss-making unit, Allwyn-Nissan, which was originally set up by the state government.
“We are pleased this sick unit will now be operational and provide employment opportunities to locals,” said J Geetha Reddy, minister for major industries, sugar, commerce & export promotion.
Goenka said the state government had given a commitment to the company on industrial peace in the midst of Telangana agitation.