Belarus presents tractor to former Vice President

New Delhi , Jun 10 (UNI) A Belarus tractor company which is looking for a joint venture in India, today presented a high-power tractor to former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat at his residence here as a goodwill gesture.

The 220 horse-power tractor offered to Mr Shekhawat, will now be imported in India along with other versions of smaller power-packs after a period of 15 years. The imported Belarus tractors were much in use in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP in 1970s during advent of the Green Revolution but their import was stopped with the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1980s.

Mr Shekhawat, then Vice President had visited the Minsk Tractor Works(MTW)in Minsk, the capital of Belarus in October,2005 and looked around for a version of tractor which he was using in his farm way back in 1970s in Rajasthan.

The tractor was formally handed over to Mr Shekhawat by Belarus Ambassador in India, Mr Oleg Laptenok. The Ambassador said since the tractor was gifted to Mr Shekhawat during his official visit, now it was being presented to him even as he is no longer in the office.

The MTW, is the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world with 8 per cent share in the world market. And it has exported 500,000 tractors to more than 100 countries since the company came into existence in 1946.

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