Tata Motors, Hitachi JV to invest Rs 250cr to set up new plant

New Delhi, July 27 (UNI) Telco Construction Equipment Company (Telcon), a 60:40 joint venture of Tata Motors and Japan's Hitachi Construction Machinery Co (HCMC), today announced that it will invest Rs 250 crore to set up a new manufacturing plant at Kharagpur, West Bengal.

Spread over an area of 60 hectares with additional facilities for a vendor park, the facility will manufacture backhoe loaders, midi excavators, off-highway dump trucks, wheel loaders and large mining shovels.

The new plant along with Telcon's two existing facilities at Jharkhand and Karnataka, will help the company meet demand from both domestic and international businesses.

''Telcon needs to create new capacity to meet growing demand from India's infrastructure sector. It has been selected as a source by HCMC for select equipment for international markets. The new plant will take the company towards being a full liner in the construction equipment business, a company statement said.

The plant will also house a research and development centre, to enable the company develop products for both domestic and international markets.

It will generate employment for about 500 people, including both direct and indirect jobs, the statement added.

Telcon, a leading manufacturer of construction equipment, posted 113 per cent growth in its net profit at Rs 89 crore and a turnover of Rs 1305 crore in 2005-06.

It is in the business of designing, manufacturing, assembling, selling, distributing and dealing in all services related to earth moving machinery and construction equipment.

Its product range presently includes hydraulic excavators, crawler cranes, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, dumpers and motor graders.

It has formed a joint venture, Telcon Ecoroad Resurfaces Pvt Ltd (TERPL), with HCM, GreenArm Japan, and IVRCL India to promote environment-friendly road resurfacing technology in India.

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