Sonalika Set to Invest ₹1000 Cr Towards Exports
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Sonalika Group, a leading manufacturer in the tractor and agriculture equipment space, has announced its plans to invest INR 1000 crore towards expanding its presence in international markets. The group manufactures agri-focused products through International Tractors Limited, the major sub-brands under it. ITL is the manufacturers of Sonalika Tractors.
As per the reports, around INR 800 crore will be utilised towards setting up a new manufacturing facility, which will be specifically designated to produce tractors only for exporting purposes.
Meanwhile, the remaining will be deployed towards developing products tailored to other countries and customer requirements. They plan to export to Latin America, Europe, the United States, Oceania and Southeast Asia.
“We are looking at investing $100 million to set up a dedicated facility for exports. The new unit will have total installed capacity of 100,000 units and will be commissioned within the next two years,” said Gaurav Saxena, director and CEO (international business), International Tractors Limited.
Exports contribute to one-third of the group’s revenue, with Saxena adding “As many as 1.5 million tractors are sold globally. We want to feature among the top three tractor brands in the world by 2030.” ITL presently exports 35,000 units and aims to touch 100,000 units in next seven years.
With current tractors running on fossil fuels, ITL is also working in developing green technologies to power agri equipment. “We are developing a range of agri equipments which will run on electric, hydrogen and alternate fuels,” said Sushant Sagar Mittal, Executive Director, ITL.
It has two R&D centres in Hoshiarpur (Punjab) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh). “Inflation, geopolitical conflicts have affected markets overseas. But even as overall automobile exports out of India have fallen by 30%, we have managed to grow our market share by 9%”, Mittal adds.
ITL accounts for 36 per cent of all the total tractor exports in the country. It aims to be consistent on its 35,000 units a year exports. Outside of India, it has five assembly plants in Brazil, Turkey, Algeria, Thailand and the United States.
Sonalika’s H1 FY24 sales were at 78,793, making it the highest domestics sale growth for it. It also had a market share of 15. 8 per cent in September 2023.
On Saturday, Sonalika unveiled five new tractors, including an all-electric model called SV series. The series is catered for international markets such as Europe, USA, Africa and South America. The electirc offering produces high torque and supports fast-charging of 0-100 percent in just 3 to 3.5 hours. Contrary to that, regular charging takes eight hours for a zero to full charge. It launched Solis SV Series electric tractor, Series S, Series C, Series H and Series N.
