JCB targets renewed growth in India after £62m manufacturing investment
STAFFORDSHIRE excavator manufacturer JCB has targeted renewed growth in the emerging markets as it officially opens two new factories in India as part of a £62m investment into the sub-continent.
JCB, which has a 35-year manufacturing heritage in India, has opened the new plants in Jaipur.
It said while the Indian market had declined by 20% this year, the company remained committed to the country by investing heavily in new facilities in readiness for a return to growth.
It expects new growth to be driven by an increase in spending on infrastructure projects although the timeframe is difficult to predict.
The sooner things pick up in the region, the better for the Rocester company, which announced last month it would be shedding 150 jobs because of a slowing in demand from the emerging markets.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford, who was joined at the new launch by Vasundhara Raje, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, said: “I could never have imagined when we first started out in business in India 35 years ago that we would have become as successful as we have. One of the keys to that success is to continually invest for growth and that is exactly what we have done with these two new factories in Jaipur. When the market returns to growth we will be very well placed to meet the increased demand.
“The growth of JCB India has been phenomenal and India has been our biggest market now for seven years now. With the support of the Rajasthan Government we can expand further in this wonderful country with the two new plants here in Jaipur.”
The new plants, which cover a 115 acre site, will provide one million square feet of new manufacturing space. It was Lord Bamford who masterminded the start of JCB’s excursion into India under a joint venture agreement in 1979. The site in Ballabgarh, near Delhi, is now JCB India’s headquarters.
India overtook the UK as JCB’s biggest single market in 2007 – a position it has maintained ever since. Since it was founded in 1945, JCB has manufactured more than one million machines and 200,000 of those have been made in India.
JCB now has five factories in India in addition to 12 in the UK and others in Brazil, China and the USA. JCB India is a leading manufacturer of construction equipment and its factory near Delhi produces backhoe loaders and engines.
Component manufacturing is already underway at one of the Jaipur plants and next year production will begin of telescopic handlers and skid steer loaders for the Indian market. The facility will also provide additional backhoe loader capacity from 2015.
When fully operational they will employ more than 1,000 people.
JCB India also has two factories in Pune, where the company manufactures excavators, wheeled loaders and compaction equipment. The company also has the strongest and the largest distribution network in India with 60 dealers and 600 outlets.
