The company has invested Rs 200 crore in this facility and will invest additional Rs 100 crore in the next five years.
At the beginning the Pune plant will manufacture at the beginning rotary tillers, mulchers and seeders for the domestic market.
The annual capacity of this plant is 20,000 units. Initially, it will manufacture over 500 machines per month. Maschio Gaspardo group specializes in the production of agricultural machinery for tillage, sowing, seeding, landscaping, forage-making, sprayers and crop care. It has also set up an R & D centre in India. Over 60 per cent localization has been achieved in this plant and remaining will be imported from Italy and China. The Pune plant will currently employ 120 people and will be increased to 250.
To start with, the new plant will manufacture products for Mahindra & Mahindra and New Holland India. Plans are also underway to serve the needs of Maschio Gaspardo Group's other global customers, by providing local supply to their India and Asia Pacific facilities. It has already sold over 17 thousand units to Mahindra and Mahindra since 2010. Gaspardo had a partnership with M & M for its OEMs.
Commenting on this, Alessio Riulini, director, Maschio Gaspardo India, said, “The growing importance of Indian agricultural market gives this country a central position in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s global strategy. Pune is an ideal location for our new plant because the city provides a strong infrastructure and a rich talent pool of skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector. Our new plant represents a key milestone in Maschio Gaspardo Group’s long-term vision of investing in fast growing markets and aligning our manufacturing footprint with the needs of our global customer base.”
He added, “Indian market requirements are very limited as compare to USA or Europe as field sizes, conditions of soil, power of tractors are lesser than other markets. The new plant will aid Maschio Gaspardo Group to achieve its aim for 2012; to exceed 280 million USD turn over.”
