Seminar Report
Tractor
Manufacture and Utilisation in India.
(A presentation by Professor Gajendra Singh, Asian Institute of Technology to the IAgrE/ICE/TAA joint seminar 'The Tractor Factor - Ploughing a road out of poverty' held at the Institution of Civil Engineers in November.)
The global spotlight on Tractor manufacture certainly in terms of unit volume seems to be be swinging away from the USA, UK and Western and Eastern Europe towards India and China where growth in the number of producers and the total volume in recent years have been impressive. Professor Singh's presentation provided an interesting insight into the current situation and the forecast for the future as well as a fascinating description of the history of the Industry from its early beginnings in the 1940's.
The Indian Tractor
Industry.
1945 to 1960.
War surplus tractors and bulldozers were imported for land reclamation and cultivation in mid 1940's. In 1947 Central and State Tractor Organisations were set up to develop and promote the supply and use of tractors in agriculture and up to 1960, the demand was met entirely through imports. There were 8,500 tractors in use in 1951, 20,000 in 1955 and 37,000 by 1960.
1961 to 1970.
Local production began in 1961 with five manufacturers producing a total of 880 units per year. By 1965 this had increased to over 5000 units per year and the total in use had risen to over 52000. By 1970 annual production had exceeded 20000 units with over 146000 units working in the country.
1971 to 1980.
Six new manufacturers were established during this period although three companies (Kirloskar Tractors, Harsha Tractors and Pittie Tractors) did not survive. Escorts Ltd began local manufacture of Ford tractors in 1971 in collaboration with Ford, UK and total production climbed steadily to 33000 in 1975 reaching 71000 by 1980. Credit facilities for farmers continued to improve and the tractor market expanded rapidly with the total in use passing the half million mark by 1980.
1981 to 1990.
A further five manufacturers began production during this period but only one of these survived in the increasingly competitive market place. Annual production exceeded 75000 units by 1985 and reached 140000 in 1990 when the total in use was about 1.2 million. Then India - a net importer up to the mid-seventies - became an exporter in the 80's mainly to countries in Africa.
1991 to 1997.
Since 1992 it has not been necessary to obtain an industrial licence for tractor manufacture in India. By 1997 annual production exceeded 255000 units and the national tractor park had passed the two million mark. India has now emerged as one of the world leaders in wheeled tractor production.
1997 to 1999.
Five new manufacturers have started production since 1997. In 1998 Bajaj Tempo, already well established in the motor industry, began tractor production in Pune. In April of the same year New Holland Tractor (India) Ltd launched production of 70 hp tractors with matching equipment. The company is making a $US 75 million initial investment in a state of the art plant at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh state with an initial capacity of 35000 units per year. Larsen and Toubro have established a joint venture with John Deere, USA for the manufacture of 35-65 hp tractors at a plant in Pune, Maharashtra and Greeves Ltd will produce Same tractors under similar arrangements with Same Deutz-Fahr of Italy. Looking to South American export markets Mahindra and Mahindra are also developing a joint venture with Case for tractors in the 60-200 hp range. Total annual production is forecast to reach 300000 during the current year.
The Industry today.
Tractor manufacture is now firmly established in India and is highly competitive with rapid advances being made in technical design and quality with increasing attention to export markets. Of the 16 companies that began operations before 1990 six are considered major manufacturers (Eicher, Escorts Ltd, HMT, Mahindra and Mahindra, PTL and TAFE). Five of these were set up with foreign collaborators and one (Punjab Tractors) with indigenous know-how. Mahindra and Mahindra has emerged as the largest manufacturer producing 68000 units in 1997 followed by TAFE, Escorts Ltd and Punjab Tractors with 49000, 48000 and 40000 units respectively. Sales in Northern and Western India are forecast to remain strong whilst the market in the southern states is likely to grow more rapidly along with export sales. However in some states such as the Punjab future sales will be mainly replacement of existing stock as densities of as much as 82 tractors per 1000 ha have been reached. The average size of tractor in the country is currently 35 hp which, following trends in other parts of the world, seems likely to increase steadily to around 45 hp by 2020. By which time the total tractor population may have increased from the present two million to five million with annual production up to 320000.
Power Tillers
By comparison with other parts of South East Asia demand for power tillers in India has been slow to take off. However the current population of around 66000 units with an average size of 10 hp is expected to rise steadily to around 300000 units by 2020 with annual production reaching over 50000 units.
Tractors are used mainly on owner's land but contract (custom hire) work is increasing steadily. The use of tractors for non-farm tasks is also increasing steadily and Prof. Singh showed examples including: transport of people, raw materials and construction materials for roads and buildings; mounted loaders and earth moving and grading blades; back-hoes, irrigation and drainage ditch diggers; pto driven pumps, compressors, post hole augers for forestry and fencing; mounted or trailed hydraulic platforms for telephone and power line maintenance; etc.
(For further information on tractors in India see Dr G. Singh's (no relation) paper in Landwards vol. 55 No1 pp 17-25)
DHS
4Aug2000
Table 1. List of
tractor manufacturers, their collaborators and the year of commencement of
production
|
|
Manufacturer |
Collaborator |
Year |
|
1 |
Eicher
Tractors Ltd. |
Gebr,
Eicher Tractorenfabrik, West
Germany |
1961 |
|
2 |
Gujarat
Tractors Ltd./Tractors and Bulldozers Ltd. |
Motokov-Praha,
Czechoslovakia |
1963 |
|
3 |
Tractor
and Farm Equipment Ltd. |
Messey
Ferguson, UK |
1961 |
|
4 |
Escorts
Ltd. |
Moloimport
Warazawa Zaklady Mechaniczne Ursus, Poland |
1964 |
|
5 |
Mahindra
& Mahindra Ltd./ International Tractor Co. of India Ltd. |
International
Harvesters, UK |
1965 |
|
6 |
+Escorts
Tractor Ltd. / Escorts Ltd. (Farmtrac Division) |
Ford,
UK |
1971 |
|
7 |
Hindustan
Machine Tools Ltd. (Central Sector PSU) |
Motokov-Praha,
Czechoslovakia |
1971 |
|
8 |
*Kirloskar
Tractors Ltd. |
Klochner-Humboldt
Deutz, Germany |
1974 |
|
9 |
Punjab
Tractors Ltd. (State Sector) |
CMERI,
India |
1974 |
|
10 |
*Pittie
Tractors Ltd. |
Own
know-how |
1974 |
|
11 |
*Harsha
Tractors Ltd |
Motoimport,
Russia |
1975 |
|
12 |
*Auto
Tractors Ltd. |
British
Leyland, UK |
1981 |
|
13 |
**
Haryana Tractors Ltd. / Pratap Steel Rolling Mills Ltd. |
Own
know-how |
1983 |
|
14 |
VST
Tillers & Tractors Ltd. |
Mitsubishi,
Japan |
1983 |
|
15 |
*United
Auto Tractors Ltd. |
Uzina
Tractorul, Romania |
1986 |
|
16 |
*Asian
Tractors Ltd. |
Own
know-how |
1989 |
|
17 |
Bajaj
Tempo Ltd. |
Own
know-how |
1997 |
|
18 |
International
Tractors (Sonalika) Ltd. |
Own
know-how |
1998 |
|
19 |
New
Holland Tractor (India) Pvt. |
New
Holland Tractors, Italy |
1999 |
|
20 |
Larsen
& Tubro Ltd. |
John
Deere, USA |
1999 |
|
21 |
Greaves
Ltd. |
Same
Deutz-Fahr, Italy |
1999 |
*Currently
not in production
+Now producing Farmtrac tractors
**
Have been producing small quantities on "On & Off" basis
Table 2. Production, sale and
population of tractors in India
|
Year |
Production |
Import
|
Export |
Sale
|
Population* |
|
Upto 1946 |
0 |
4,500 |
0 |
4,500 |
4,500 |
|
1947-51 |
0 |
4,000 |
0 |
4,000 |
8,500 |
|
1952-56 |
0 |
12,500 |
0 |
12,500 |
21,000 |
|
1957-60 |
0 |
16,000 |
0 |
16,000 |
37,000 |
|
1961 |
880 |
2,997 |
0 |
3,877 |
39,000 |
|
1962 |
1,414 |
2,616 |
0 |
4,030 |
41,000 |
|
1963 |
1,983 |
2,346 |
0 |
4,329 |
43,000 |
|
1964 |
4,323 |
2,323 |
0 |
6,646 |
47,000 |
|
1965 |
5,673 |
1,989 |
0 |
7,662 |
52,000 |
|
1966 |
8,816 |
2,591 |
0 |
11,407 |
62,000 |
|
1967 |
11,394 |
4,038 |
0 |
15,432 |
76,000 |
|
1968 |
15,466 |
4,726 |
0 |
20,192 |
93,000 |
|
1969 |
18,093 |
10,478 |
0 |
28,571 |
118,000 |
|
1970 |
20,099 |
13,300 |
0 |
33,399 |
146,000 |
|
1971 |
18,100 |
19,739 |
0 |
37,839 |
176,000 |
|
1972 |
20,802 |
1,000 |
0 |
21,802 |
210,000 |
|
1973 |
24,425 |
1,000 |
0 |
25,425 |
228,000 |
|
1974 |
31,088 |
793 |
0 |
31,881 |
256,000 |
|
1975 |
33,252 |
1,100 |
0 |
34,352 |
287,000 |
|
1976 |
33,146 |
2,920 |
0 |
36,066 |
319,000 |
|
1977 |
40,946 |
0 |
0 |
40,946 |
356,000 |
|
1978 |
54,322 |
0 |
0 |
54,322 |
406,000 |
|
1979 |
62,275 |
0 |
0 |
62,275 |
462,000 |
|
1980 |
71,024 |
0 |
0 |
72,012 |
526,000 |
|
1981 |
84,137 |
0 |
0 |
79,467 |
594,000 |
|
1982 |
63,155 |
0 |
0 |
65,776 |
644,000 |
|
1983 |
75,872 |
0 |
0 |
76,545 |
701,000 |
|
1984 |
84,876 |
0 |
0 |
82,390 |
754,000 |
|
1985 |
75,550 |
0 |
0 |
76,817 |
798,000 |
|
1986 |
80,369 |
0 |
0 |
80,670 |
841,000 |
|
1987 |
92,092 |
0 |
0 |
92,092 |
911,000 |
|
1988 |
109,987 |
0 |
0 |
109,987 |
996,000 |
|
1989 |