Telcon, the joint venture between Tata Motors and Hitachi, will make multi-utility vehicles to Bell Equipment of South Africa. The exports of the vehicles will take place immediately.
"Already, field trials of the MUV have been carried out in South Africa. The vehicles find applications in farm, paper, pulp, and sugar industries. These could be used for digging, crushing, loading, trenching and lifting. Also, there is a special feature by which the MUV could be used as a mini-power plant in the night," said Rana Sinha, managing director, Telcon.
The arrangement is as part of a long-term understanding signed between the two companies, by which Telcon will develop the vehicles for Bell's market in South Africa.
Technologies of both the companies (Telcon and Bell) will be employed for developing them. There are no plans of marketing the vehicles in India, said Sinha.
Bell Equipment, a leading industrial equipment company in South Africa, reported revenue of 3.2 billion rands for the year ended 2005. According to industry sources, Telcon is eyeing to export a few hundreds of the MUVs in the initial year.
Telcon, in which Japanese technology major Hitachi holds 40 per cent, is now aggressively scouting for overseas expansion through tie-ups. In the recent past the company has tied up with industrial equipment companies in the US, Spain and Turkey for technology and manufacturing.
Utilising the technology, the company makes backoloaders, compactors, and road infrastructure equipment like asphalt mix plant and advanced road rulers for the local market.
Telcon is the largest manufacturer of excavators in India. It also makes backoloaders, wheel loaders, motor graders, and related components, used in the construction industry, at its two plants in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and Dharwad (Karnataka).
In order to meet the demand for equipment from the domestic and overseas markets, Telcon will double its existing capacity.
