Mahindra Zaheerabad plant in Telangana to manufacture New K2 Tractor Series
Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector (FES) will manufacture its new K2 tractor series at its tractor manufacturing facility at Zaheerabad, Telangana. The Zaheerabad plant gets appropriate support from the Government of Telangana and is equipped to meet this challenge. The company also hopes to improve employment opportunities with this development.
Zaheerabad plant was established in 2012, and is Mahindra’s youngest and largest tractor manufacturing plant in relation to production capacity. Mahindra Yuvo and Jivo tractors, including the recently launched Plus Series are all manufactured here. The plant also produces Mahindra’s Rice Transplanters and Tractor Mounted Combine Harvesters.
Mahindra Zaheerabad plant
For now, Mahindra is the only tractor manufacturer in Telangana. Investment in the plant stands close to Rs. 1,087 crores, and employment has been generated for 1,500 workers. Tractor production capacity on a 2-shift basis is pegged at over 1,00,000 tractors per year. The K2 project will see incremental investments of Rs 100 crore at the plant, and double tractor plant employment by 2024.
Zaheerabad plant is equipped to roll-out over 330 different tractor variants in the 30 to 100 HP range. With ops under the aegis of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) Philosophy and Culture, 65 percent of tractors manufactured at the plant are exported. Apart from manufacturing farm equipment, Mahindra’s Automotive Division manufactures a range of cargo and passenger vehicles at the Zaheerabad plant.
Mahindra K2 tractor development
Its development is a result of close collab between engineering teams from Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery of Japan, and Mahindra Research Valley, India. Mahindra Tractor K2 series is a light-weight offering for both domestic and international markets.
K Series enables Mahindra to introduce products across four new tractor platforms – Sub Compact, Compact, Small Utility and Large Utility tractor categories, covering 37 models across various HP points. International markets for business include USA, Japan, and South East Asia.
Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sector, M&M said, “As the world’s largest tractor manufacturer by volume, Mahindra is on an exciting path to developing the K2 series, one of our most ambitious tractor programs. This project is focused on diversity and scalability, to meet the varied expectations and different regional requirements of customers and markets across the world.”
Tractor sales in recent months have largely been in the green despite Covid-19 pandemic related lockdown and slowdown. Mahindra tractor sales growth in October 2020 is reported at 2 percent at 46,558 units, up from 45,433 units in October 2019.
Domestic market tractor sales recovered at 45,588 units, up from 44,646 units YoY. Exports are up 23 percent at 970 units, up from 787 units in October 2019. Positive sales sentiment is attributed to expectations of a higher Kharif output and good cash flow in the market among other reasons.
