Hyderabad: JCB India, the Haryana-based wholly owned subsidiary of the $2-billion JC Bamford Excavators Ltd., of UK has ambitious plans for its Indian operations

Inaugurating a new dealership in Andhra Pradesh, Onkar Singh Sunar, managing director, JCB India told the press that JCB was expanding operations in India and was setting up new plants in Pune and Delhi.
He said the company is setting up a new plant in Pune with an investment outlay of $100 million (Rs 450 crore). The plant would be developed into a manufacturing hub for the company's markets in South-east Asia and globally. It would manufacture various parts that go into construction-related equipment and excavators.

The company is also planning to set up a second plant in Delhi with an investment of Rs100 crore.

Sunar said the plant in Pune would be financed through internal accruals. He said, "We are upbeat about the construction industry in India. The country has high requirements of infrastructure and road building and it is not possible to handle all construction work with human support. Therefore, we foresee that that construction-related equipment and excavators will increasingly be used in the country with the market projected to grow by over 50 per cent this year," he said.

Commissioning the company's 37^th dealership in the country, Sunar said, "About 50 per cent of new customer additions in the country was through existing clientele. This called for better service facilities. Therefore, we are investing significantly in strengthening existing dealers and expanding the footprint."

In 2004, the company sold about 2,500 units of equipment for various requirements and this year JCB hopes to cross the 7,000-mark driven by increasing usage of construction related equipment.

"The Asia Pacific region accounts for a significant chunk of the company market and this has prompted us to establish a centre in China," he said.

Apart from expanding operations, JCB is launching a range of equipment for excavation requirements. The southern market accounts for about 30 per cent of the total JCB sales in India and Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a key growth area.

The company sold 38,000 machines last fiscal globally. It has manufacturing facilities in UK, US, Brazil and China.

"At present, in India the company has one facility in Delhi and is setting up another in Pune, which would begin operations by June this year."

Last year the company sold 5,500 machines in India and is targeting sales of 7,000 machines this fiscal.

The company is also focusing on the Southern market as it has grown to be its biggest market in the country so far contributing 30 per cent of its revenues. He said Andhra Pradesh alone contributed five per cent revenues.

JCB's newest dealer MGB, a Rs100-crore company with branches at Kurnool, Warangal, Khammam and Nizamabad is targeting to sell 200 machines this fiscal.

The company is planning to add new machines to its existing product range, which include excavators of 13, 20 and 33 tonne capacity. The company's other products include backhoe loaders, loading shovels, tracked excavators and skid steer loaders.

JCB India been growing at the rate of 40 per cent and 45 per cent in the past three years and has a market share of 80 per cent in excavators in India.