Multipurpose Rs 1.50 lakh Angad Tractor launched

New Delhi, Sep 27 (UNI) Angad, a multipurpose tractor that costs less than half the price of presently availably tractors in the market, was launched today targeting the country's 20 million strong farmer community.

''Tractors available in the Indian market have been priced at Rs 4,00,000 and often made for use in European and other Western fields and not always effective for Indian conditions,'' Mr Ravindra Kumar, CMD of SAS Motors Ltd, told reporters while announcing the national launch of the Angad Tractor.

The Angad costs Rs 1,50,000 and is claimed to be fuel efficient and can even be repaired by a cycle mechanic.

Angad 240 D is India's first optimised farm automation system for the rural sector making effective low cost mechanisation accessible to farmers with small landholdings across India. It comes loaded with a 22 HP single cylinder engine that is 30 per cent more fuel efficient than that of any other tractor in the Indian market, Mr Kumar said.

Angad 240 D is CMVR and Bharat Term III compliant and has obtained a Commercial Test Report validating minimum performance standards and compatibility from the CFMTTI, Budhini, making it eligible for re-financing by NABARD and government subsidies.

Mr Kumar said Angad is the pioneering initiative of the company to provide optimised farm automation system for the rural sector to alleviate rural poverty. This tractor is not a replacement for a sophisticated 60 HP Tractor ''but it is a suitable alternative to a bullock cart.'' Angad's farm implements portfolio include a Power Tiller, Rotary cultivator and a rural transport vehicle to facilitate connectivity between villages on off-highway Kuccha roads.

This wonder machine can also be harnessed for generating electricity for submersible irrigation pumps. The electricity can be generated at less than Rs 4 a unit.

Mr Kumar informed that two years ago a demonstration of Angad 240D was made to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). Since then over 3000 tractors have been sold and another 18,000 booked. Over 98 per cent of Angad buyers are first tiwm owners of a tractor.

The Angad is targeted at farmers with small landholdings and will be able to provide haulage services for transporting produce, food, water milk and even people in rural areas at prices that were previously not possible and generate substantial income for themselves.

Over the next few months, the company plans to have a presence in each state in India as well as setting up 2000 ''Angad Krishi Seva Kendras'' across the country.

SAS Motors has its 100 per cent owned-manufacturing facility in China and three assembly units in India at Pune, Kolkata and Bhopal.

The company is expected to clock a turnover of Rs 40 crore during the calendar year 2006 and has set a target to achieve a 10-fold increase in its turnover of over Rs 400 crore in the calendar year 2009, Mr Kumar added.

UNI BBS PV HT1710