JCB India launches 20-tonne tracked excavator

Pune, July 4, 2013: JCB India, the country’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment, has launched a 20-tonne tracked excavator named JS205LC. According to the company, the tracked excavator which is developed and produced locally will be primarily for the Indian market. Company records say that the new tracked excavator offers a reliable structure (with 22 percent bigger sections for high durability and 12 percent deeper and 7 percent wider arm sections offer more strength) and superior fuel efficiency (thanks to the advanced load sensing hydraulic system designed for lower energy needs) along with many other benefits. Company officials highlighted that the efficient engine (gross power output: 142hp) powering the JS250LC can help a customer save fuel worth Rs 1.3 lakh per annum.

“The new excavator offers best-in-class fuel efficiency, superior performance and productivity to our customers. Our focus is to continuously make efforts to innovate and upgrade our products, offer more value-for-money to our customers through better customer services and penetrate deeper into various pockets of the country,” said Vipin Sondhi, managing director and CEO, JCB India. The Ballabhgarh-based (Haryana) firm has also added another wheel loader, 432ZX to its portfolio which is powered by a 150hp Cummins engine and has a payload of 3650kg.

JCB India, which follows the calendar year, recorded revenues around Rs 5,900 crore during 2012. Expecting a flat growth during 2013, Sondhi clarified that “the construction equipment industry is witnessing de-growth of nearly 12 percent, which contradicts our status of being a developing country. Infrastructure projects are taking a lot of time to roll out and fuel growth. Last-minute hurdles to such projects are land acquisition and environmental issues. In my opinion, linear projects such as road building or drawing a power line, which do not require massive pieces of lands, should not ideally face roadblocks and hence should keep moving the growth of development across the country. Placement and execution of infrastructure contracts starting from the bureaucratic level can be the single biggest triggering factor to fuel growth in this space.”

The construction equipment industry stands at nearly 50,000 units per annum wherein JCB india claims to have sold around 26,000 units last year which included exports of 1,000 units (against 2011 exports of only 330 units). Nearly 60 percent of total units sold comprise of backhoe loaders, which are rolled out only from the Ballabhgarh plant. The company is setting up its fourth facility in Jaipur for which it has committed an investment of Rs 500 crore. Justifying the selection of Rajasthan for its fourth facility, Sondhi mentioned that “Jaipur is not only closer to Delhi, providing us administrative convenience, but it also lies on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). National Highway 8, which connects Delhi and Jaipur, witnesses high movement of auto ancillaries as well.” India today stands as the largest market for the UK-based JC Bamford Excavators with 30 percent of all machines sold domestically. The fully owned subsidiary currently exports its products to nearly 40 countries including Eastern Africa as India is slowly gaining ground to being a strategic manufacturing centre for the company’s global operations.

AMIT PANDAY