JCB launches 100,000th machine manufactured in India

New Delhi : Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath and visiting British Business Secretary Vince Cable Thursday unveiled the 100,000th excavator manufactured by construction equipment maker J.C. Bamford (JCB) here.

"To develop India, we need to build roads and for that we need to make greater use of the the latest technology available. JCB has partnered with India on this front for the last 30 years," Nath told reporters at the residence of the British High Commissioner to India.

Cable, accompanying British Premier David Cameron on his first India visit, said: "As India develops its infrastructure, the potential for further co-operation between India and Britain is enormous."

JCB started out as a joint venture (JV) in 1979. In 2003, it acquired 100 percent stake in the Indian subsidiary. Currently, the company has a 50 percent share of India's construction equipment market.

Last year, the company expanded its Ballabhgarh, Haryana, plant's capacity to become the largest construction equipment facility in the world.

"We are very well positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for construction equipment in India," said

Vipin Sondhi, JCB chief executive.

The company manufactures and markets 21 models in seven product segments like loaders, loading shovels, tracked excavators and pick and carry cranes, which are used in diversified fields such as mining, dredging and clearing of sand, mud or rubble.