Tag: tractor

Mahindra and Mahindra looking at launches in both ICE, EV segments

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is gearing up for launches in both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicle (EV) segments.

“We would have some new products in the ICE segment and the whole electric vehicle portfolio, which will come in early 2025. So we believe that will help open up a new category of customers. People who are looking for exciting designs, technology, and a whole totally new driving experience – we believe that is what will drive the future,” stated Rajesh Jejurikar, the Executive Director and CEO of Auto and Farm Sectors at Mahindra and Mahindra.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he highlighted M&M‘s recent success on the tractor side, stating, “We are bringing exciting products, brought some really good products on the tractor side.” Despite the overall industry facing challenges, M&M has managed to gain market share, showing growth even during a period of sluggish tractor industry performance.

“Typically spending in rural areas does go up, but the election period itself is not a great buying period because a very large chunk of people are engaged around the election, election campaigning. Election months normally are a little bit slow, but that catches up later,” explained Jejurikar, shedding light on the unique challenges faced by the industry during election seasons.

However, this year has presented an unexpected scenario for the tractor industry. Jejurikar expressed, “But this year the tractor industry is slow. We were anticipating – we had started by saying low single digits. More recently, we are saying it will be flattish for the industry for the year. We have gained market share over 1 share point, and we have been showing some growth as a consequence of that. So in November, we grew 4.7%.”

According to Jejurikar, the timing of the monsoon has played a significant role in the slow growth of the tractor industry. Despite this, Mahindra and Mahindra remains optimistic about the future, with strategic launches planned in both traditional ICE and the cutting-edge EV segments, aiming to captivate customers seeking exciting designs and advanced technology.

As 2025 approaches, M&M positions itself as a key player in shaping the future driving experience.

For more, watch the accompanying video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

UP farmer raises height of tractor to 10 feet to reach inaccessible fields: See pic

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

A farmer in Uttar Pradesh has modified his tractor to easily navigate through all kinds of terrain, including marshy soil, streams and ponds, to reach his agricultural fields without difficulty.

Jaswant Singh, the farmer from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh has modified his John Deere tractor, raising its height from 5 feet to 10 feet, according to News 18 Hindi.

Singh had bought the tractor in 2002 to primarily perform tough agricultural operations, but customised it later to reach places where ordinary tractors fail. It has now become a multi-purpose vehicle, which can be used for various tasks such as sowing the fields and carrying large amounts of harvested crops.

In addition, Singh uses his modified tractor to apply manure in sugarcane plantations.

Also read: About 2,349 Farmer Producers Organisations formed in last 2 years under central scheme: Tomar

According to Singh, the tractor was modified to deal with the problem of flooding. Crops in Shukratal area in Muzaffarnagar get ruined during the rainy season due to frequent flooding, while some rural areas get cut off from the main road during rains.

“To get rid of this problem, I have modified the tractor to reach a height of 10 feet  so that it can easily cross ponds or canals enroute to my farm ,” News18 Hindi quoted Singh as saying.

The farmer told ETV Bharat that he uses his tractor only in the fields as they are not allowed by the government to be used on roads.

Also read: With new hike, nutrient-based subsidy more than doubles from FY23 budget estimate

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Anand Mahindra shares video on Twitter, asks followers to identify country; there is a prize too

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra has a mystery that he wants to be solved. Sharing a video on Twitter, the chairman of Mahindra Group asked his followers whether they could identify the country shown. The reward? A scale model of a Mahindra Novo Tractor.

The video shows three Mahindra tractors standing at the side of the street in a foreign country. Attached to the tractors appear to be floats of some kind with displays on them. The first features an old sewing machine, while the second features a small boat. The third float was too far to make out the object clearly. A group of individuals wearing white-black traditional outfits of some kind also walks into view.

ALSO READ: Hyundai IONIQ 5 launch in India: Check expected date, price, features and specifications

“These are Mahindra Tractors of course, but which country is this? I’ll send the first person with the right answer a scale model tractor shown in the accompanying pic,” Mahindra said on Twitter.

These are Mahindra Tractors of course, but which country is this? I’ll send the first person with the right answer a scale model tractor shown in the accompanying pic. pic.twitter.com/TkA1Y5AlwD

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 12, 2022

With 9.8 million followers on the micro-blogging platform, there is no dearth of answers.

“Anand Sir, (sic) answer is ‘GERMANY’. It’s a holiday to celebrate the autumn Ernte (‘harvest’), as well as show appreciation to God and people working in Landwirtschaft (‘agriculture’). People who are in a position to do so are also encouraged to give to the poor,” explained one user.

Others also chimed in with the suggestion that the country depicted in the video was Germany.

A few others said neighbouring Belgium or the much more distant Brazil as well.

While many other Twitter users were unable to guess the location of the country, they did express pride at seeing Indian products on a global stage.

ALSO READ: Kia to launch ‘high-performance’ electric model of EV6 GT in India

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Escorts expects sales to pick up from September; says JV partner Kubota positive on India tractor biz

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Escorts is optimistic going forward, after August witnessed a slowdown on the retail side, Bharat Madan, President Finance, Group Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Head, Escorts Ltd, told CNBC-TV18. Madan also said that their joint venture partner, Kubota, is very positive about the India tractor business.

Kubota is a Japanese multinational corporation that produces many products including tractors and agricultural equipment.

“We are optimistic going forward, but we did see a slowdown happening on the retail side during this (August) month, partly also because of the bad situation as monsoon took a break in the month of July-August, but now looking at the prediction for September, looks like September should be reasonably good,” Madan said.

He further mentioned that volume is being built up by the company in anticipation of sales.

Also Read: Tractorisation in India high, but agriculture mechanisation low

Escorts Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate and automotive engineering company that operates in the sectors of agri-machinery, construction machinery, material handling, and railway equipment.

On Kubota’s stake, he said, “There is no discussion. It’s more market speculation. The commentary which came from Kubota’s perspective, the India business is doing well and they have seen a good growth coming in.”

On inventory, Madan said, “Overall, the inventory level is close to 4-4.5 weeks, which is not very high looking at the festive season which is coming in.”

Also Read: Monsoon takes a break: Experts discuss concerns over agri output

“However, if something goes wrong in those months then it will be a cause for concern for the industry, but as of now, things are looking positive,” he said.

For the entire management interview, watch the video

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tractorisation in India high, but agriculture mechanisation low

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The tractor industry in India registered an increase in sales by more than 40 percent in 2020 as compared to 2019. And to all of our surprises, this was recorded when we were hit by a global pandemic and all the other segments were performing poorly. In fact, 2020-21 has been dynamic for this sector as the tractor industry witnessed the highest ever sale of about 9 lakh units. Now while these numbers are a good sign of tractor penetration in India, only ‘tractorisation’ is not agriculture mechanisation. In fact, mechanisation in agriculture is very low in our country.

While tractors are an integral part of farm mechanisation, they are not the only machinery that can assist in agricultural operations. Many Indian farmers, however, are solely dependent on tractors and perform other farm activities such as spraying and harvesting manually or with the help of farm labour. On top of that, micro surveys reveal that tractors are not even being used very efficiently. Their use in many parts of the country ranges between 500-600 hours per year as compared to a benchmark figure of 800-1000 hours for better utilisation.

Farm machinery such as laser levelers, field cultivators, mowers, combine harvesters, sprayers, backhoes, etc. should also be made available to the farmers to increase farm productivity. Farmers in India have limited access to modern machinery. Many farmers still rely on traditional farming techniques. Technological interventions in farming can usher massive changes. According to a report by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, climate change could reduce agricultural yields by up to 9 percent. If that were to be true, farmers would be harshly affected by it. However, with climate-resilient technologies, farmers can make informed choices with respect to their farming practices and thereby avoiding climate-change shocks. India has approximately 13 crore farmers of all kinds – small, medium, marginal, large. However, only a very less percentage of this big number is aware of the vast possibilities that they can tap on with the help of digitalisation. Digital transformation in this sector is bound to make the farmers more resilient against the major possible challenges in terms of access to information, weather predictions, soil fertility, and better cropping patterns, etc.

The need of the hour is to provide farm equipment on pay per use basis. Since most of the farmers cannot afford to buy expensive machinery on their own and usually end up getting trapped in debts as a result of buying/loaning costly equipment, there should be a means by which they do not suffer from such extreme losses. ‘Uberising the farm services’ can help in solving India’s farm crisis as more and more equipment are made affordable and accessible to the farmers on pay per use model. By allowing farmers to rent out their assets, farmers can pay off the purchase cost and even generate more revenue. Providing farmers with such lucrative choices is all the more important now due to the uncertain pandemic shocks that may affect them.

When COVID-19 hit us last year, agriculture was the only sector to have reported a positive growth of 3.4 percent at constant prices in 2020-21. While the Indian economy contracted by 6.5 percent, on the whole, the farm sector expanded. Recent data suggests that India’s agriculture exports also jumped from 17.34 percent to $41.25 billion in FY21. What proved beneficial for this sector was the exemption from the nationwide lockdown and good monsoon. This also proves the massive potential of this sector. However, as the rural areas are affected due to the second COVID wave this time, the situation has changed and farm-related activities may not go unhindered.

In perspective, while our agricultural exports soared to a six-year high of over $19 billion in 2020-21, we still have challenges that need to be addressed. The pandemic has opened opportunities in agriculture in India, which, if recognized early can help in doubling the farmers’ income. Many experts believe that India’s economic recovery would be V-shaped and agriculture would play a prominent role.

In order to double farmers’ income and increase productivity, farmers need cost-effective technologies available to them. A tractor is one of the many farming machinery that can be deployed. The use of sensors, drones, GPS technology, robots, etc. can make the lives of farmers easy. Since India has now improved remarkably in its digital connectivity, farmers can also use this high-end equipment with the help of private players, government, or farmer producer organizations. Only when at least a considerable percentage of farmers begin putting in service various kinds of farming equipment other than a tractor on their farmland, can we successfully declare that there is high agriculture mechanisation in India.

The author, Rohtash Mal, is Chairman of EM3 AgriServices Pvt. Ltd. The views expressed are personal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rahul Gandhi arrives at Parliament in tractor protesting against farm laws

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday arrived at the Parliament in a tractor in protest against the three farm laws. Gandhi said the Modi government is suppressing the voices of farmers but they have to repeal these new laws. The Monsoon Session is underway but it has been marred by repeated adjournments since July 22.

“I have brought farmers’ message to Parliament. The government is suppressing the voices of farmers and not letting a discussion take place in Parliament. The government will have to repeal these black laws. The entire country knows these laws favour 2-3 big businessmen,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi was accompanied by party MPs in the tractor who also carried placards voicing their protest against the contentious laws.

Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi drives a tractor to reach Parliament, in protest against the three farm laws pic.twitter.com/JJHbX5uS5L

— ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2021

Meanwhile, the MPs of Shiromani Akali Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party staged a protest at Parliament against the
agriculture laws.

The protesting farmers have been holding Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar in the national capital in parallel to the Monsoon Session. A maximum of 200 farmers is being allowed at the site. Today, women farmers were holding ‘Mahila Kisan Sansad’ reflecting their key role in Indian agriculture, and their critical role in the ongoing movement too.

Thousands of farmers from across the country have been agitating at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur — against the three farm laws for the last eight months. Over 10 rounds of talks with the government have failed to break the deadlock between the two parties.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ACE posts strong Q3 results, total crane sales up 68%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Action Construction Equipment (ACE) has posted quite a strong Q3 update quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Total crane sales are up 68 percent for the company. Sorab Agarwal, whole-time director of ACE, said on year-on-year (YoY) basis, the company has seen a 32 percent growth in cranes in Q3FY21.

“Sequentially it is 69 percent growth and on a YoY basis, it is 32 percent growth. In agriculture segment, on a YoY basis we have seen 36 percent growth. From 718 tractors, we have been able to do 976 tractors and on a sequential basis, it is 66 percent,” he said.

In terms of pent-up demand, he said, “I wouldn’t call it a pent-up demand. Post COVID and with the lockdowns in place and monsoons coming into picture, most of the equipments on the construction site delayed their work or stopped the work for three-four months and started it again in September, October.”

“It was not a pent-up demand, it was a regular demand which had been there and got delayed because the work was not happening.”

Regarding tractor business, he said, “Currently we are working at about 40-50 percent utilisation with respect to tractors. Our capacity is at about 7,200 tractors annually. This year we should be closing somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 tractors but going ahead we are definitely looking at 20-25 percent growth or maybe slightly more than that.”

“The maximum traction that we are seeing in the current quarter is in our construction equipment business where for the last one and half to two years we have been trying to do all the right things to put it back on track. On a YoY basis we have seen about 159 percent increase in numbers, which is very heartening for us,” he said.

On price hikes, he said, “The way steel prices have behaved in the last four-five months, prices have gone up from a level of Rs 36-37 per kilogram to close to about Rs 53-54 per kilogram. In the month of November we did have a price increase of 2-3 percent. However, from January 1 onwards we have had our biggest price hike we have ever had. November and January price hike put together we have increased prices for our equipments by 7-9 percent.”

For more, watch video…

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow