Mahindra’s Zaheerabad tractor plant to be hub for new K2 series

Mahindra & Mahindra’s tractor manufacturing division, which is aggressively farming growth in India on the back of a robust kharif season and a bountiful monsoon, is preparing to introduce a new range of tractors developed in collaboration with Mitsubishi of Japan. Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES) today announced that it will manufacture a new tractor series called the ‘K2’, exclusively at the company’s tractor manufacturing facility at Zaheerabad in the state of Telangana.

Developed through close collaboration between the engineering teams from Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery of Japan and Mahindra Research Valley, India, the K2 series aims to create a lightweight tractor program for both domestic and international markets. The new series will 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 across various HP points. The new series will cater to domestic as well as International markets including USA, Japan, and South East Asia.

KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Industries, MA & UD, government of Telangana said, “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 the going to be good, leading them to invest continuously”.

Speaking at the virtual unveiling of the Telangana government’s EV policy on October 30, Dr Pawan Goenka, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra, had said: “We are developing a new tractor series (codenamed K2) in Japan. It is, by far, our most ambitious tractor product development project ever. We have decided that the Zaheerabad plant will be the sole location in India to manufacture this tractor. This will lead to more than doubling the employment in the tractor plant.”

“Telangana holds much significance for us. The tractor business is at our very core and we have one of our largest plants in Zaheerabad, where we have invested over Rs 1,000 crore over the past couple of years and are employing over 4,500 people. Our tractor plant in the state is one of the largest plants in Asia under one roof,” he added.

Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sector, M&M mentioned “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”.

Established in 2012, Zaheerabad is Mahindra’s youngest and largest tractor manufacturing plant in terms of capacity. The facility also manufactures the company’s next-generation range of Yuvo and Jivo tractors, including the recently launched Plus Series of tractors.

Currently, Mahindra is the only tractor manufacturer in the state of Telangana and has invested close to Rs 1,087 crore at its facility in Zaheerabad. The Farm Equipment manufacturing unit employs over 1,500 workers, with a capacity of over 1,00,000 tractors per year on a 2-shift basis.

The Zaheerabad plant has the flexibility to roll out over 330 different tractor variants ranging from 30 to 100 hp and exports around 64% of its annual production.

M&M, which sold a total of 42,361 tractors in September, up 17.51% year on year, in the domestic market, has two key brands – Mahindra and Swaraj – and in the recent past has introduced new tech- and feature-laden products on the Nuvo, Yugo and Jivo platforms.

The 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.