Mahindra Group has announced that it will manufacture a new tractor series ‘K2’, exclusively at the company's manufacturing unit at Zaheerabad in Telangana. With this new tractor series, the company will bring in additional investment of Rs 100 crore into the plant and double its employment at the tractor plant by 2024. The company has invested close to Rs 1,087 crore for this plant so far.
The farm equipment manufacturing unit employs over 1,500 workers, with a capacity of over 1 lakh tractors per year on a two-shift basis. According to a statement from the company, the K2 tractor was developed through close collaboration between engineering teams from Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery of Japan and Mahindra Research Valley, India. The group said that the K2 series aims to create a lightweight tractor for both domestic and international markets.
The new series will also enable Mahindra to introduce products across four new tractor platforms, in the Sub Compact, Compact, Small Utility and Large Utility tractor categories, covering 37 models. The new series will cater to domestic as well as international markets including USA, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Mahindra's unit in Zaheerabad is the company’s youngest and largest tractor manufacturing plant in terms of capacity, which was set up in 2012. The facility also manufactures the company's next-generation range of ‘Yuvo’ and ‘Jivo’ tractors, including the recently launched ‘Plus Series’ of tractors, it said in a statement.
Telangana Minister for IT Industries, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) KT Rama Rao said, "The government of Telangana is very grateful to Mahindra for their new investment in Telangana. K2 tractors have been designed in collaboration with Mitsubishi, and their manufacturing in Mahindra's plant in Zaheerabad would be a matter of great achievement for the entire country.”
“One of the most remarkable features of Telangana's investment landscape over the last six years is a series of repeat investments by our existing investors. The new investment by Mahindra is one such example. This goes on to show that existing investors find the policy is working on the ground, and is going to be good, leading them to invest continuously,” he added.
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. Our Zaheerabad facility which has always received tremendous support from the government of Telangana is very well equipped to meet this challenge and we hope to substantially improve employment opportunities through this project.”
The Mahindra plant at Zaheerabad plant also produces Mahindra's Rice Transplanters and Tractor Mounted Combine Harvesters. Besides manufacturing farm equipment, Mahindra's Automotive Division also manufactures a wide range of cargo and passenger vehicles at the Zaheerabad plant, giving Mahindra a significant presence in the state.