Escorts Kubota Says Subsidy Needed Before Wider Electric Tractor Rollout

Escorts Kubota Ltd is holding off on a full commercial launch of its next electric tractor until the government extends subsidy support to the category. 

"It is almost development done at our R&D. Now it is a management call, and we are waiting for some subsidy kind of promotion from the government, so that we can make this as a viable product for the market," said Jayagopal S., General Manager and Head of EV Systems Engineering at Escorts Kubota, speaking  at the India Clean Transportation Summit in Delhi on Wednesday.

Escorts Kubota, formed through Escorts Group's tie-up with Japan's Kubota Corp, already sells a 25 horsepower (HP) electric tractor to hobby farmers in the United States. It has also developed a 35 HP successor with a larger battery, built on feedback from early customers, Jayagopal said. Both models charge from a standard three-phase home connection, avoiding the need for dedicated charging infrastructure.

Escorts Kubota's broader tractor business, spanning diesel and electric models, grew in August. The company sold 10,072 units, up 19.1% from a year earlier. Domestic sales rose 20.5% to 9,523 units, while exports fell 0.9% to 549.

Cumulative sales for the five months from April through August rose 20.5% to 55,665 units, as a 22.6% increase in domestic demand outweighed an 11.6% drop in exports. Electric tractors remain a small fraction of that volume, reflecting how nascent the segment is within India's diesel-dominated tractor market.

Price is the main constraint on adoption. A 35 HP diesel tractor sells for about five lakh rupees, roughly six thousand dollars. A comparable electric model costs about ₹12.5 lakhs, or $15,000, a gap of roughly 2.5 times, Jayagopal claimed. 

Customers who run an electric tractor at least eight hours a day can match a diesel tractor's return on investment, he said. Profits roughly double diesel once a buyer passes a three-year break-even point.

Distribution will not need fresh investment, he added. "The electric tractor and diesel tractor ecosystem is not much different. Except charging, everything is the same." Existing dealers can sell the electric models with extra training required only for after-sales staff handling EV-specific repairs.

The company is also fitting electric tractors with telematics, letting engineers in India diagnose faults and update software remotely, including on units in the United States.

Battery swapping, raised on the panel as a fix for charging downtime, but Jayagopal counters and states it is not practical for tractors. A typical battery pack weighs about 250 kilograms, too heavy to swap safely in the field. Most tractors run less than 10 hours a day, leaving enough time to recharge overnight. Where higher-capacity DC infrastructure exists, a fast charger can take a battery from empty to full in about an hour, he said.

Jayagopal called on the government to introduce a subsidy scheme for electric tractors similar to those already available for electric trucks and buses. The scheme should include preferential lending rates and added incentives for tractors "especially if they are registered at a woman's name," he said.