By:Thomas Kutty Abraham
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, plans to invest $200 million in India over five years to make construction equipment as demand grows in the second-fastest growing major economy.
The company is open to forming joint ventures with local manufacturers as it seeks to boost sales in India, where the government plans to add 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of roads a day, Richard Lavin, Caterpillar’s group president for the Asia region, said in an interview with Bloomberg-UTV.
“We’ve got to be manufacturing locally in order to be competitive in India and we are working right now on plans to significantly increase our investment in manufacturing engines and machines,” Lavin said. “In the coming years, a majority of our construction and mining equipment sales will take place in Asia Pacific, and India will play a large role.”
Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens is trying to position the Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar to benefit from growth in Asia by 2020 as sales drop at home in the U.S. Revenue share of the Asia-Pacific region will grow “aggressively” over the next 10 years, Lavin said.
India will award contracts worth 1 trillion rupees ($21 billion) to build about 7,500 miles of roads through June and the government will ease investment rules to boost highway projects, Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport and Highways said on Nov. 4. The nation needs $70 billion in investments in the next three to four years to meet its target of laying 4,350 miles of roads each year, he said in September.
‘Focus on Infrastructure’
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is aiming to accelerate India’s economic growth to between 9 percent and 10 percent over the next decade. Gross domestic product growth in Asia’s third- biggest economy may slow to as low as 6 percent in the year ending March, from an average 8.5 percent in the previous five years, as the worst global recession in seven decades hurt access to foreign capital.
“We are very encouraged by the focus on infrastructure build up in India, especially the roads and highways,” Lavin said. “We are looking at opportunities in working with our dealers and partners to be a part of that.”
Caterpillar is close to an agreement on an engine-making partnership in India and has received joint-venture offers from equipment makers in China, Lavin said on Aug. 4. It plans to extend loans to buyers of bulldozers and excavators in India and is talking to the government for approval for its financing unit, Lavin said.
Caterpillar on Oct. 20 said third-quarter profit dropped to $404 million from $868 million. Caterpillar has slashed inventories and production amid the worst decline in its markets since the Great Depression. It cut about 18,700 full-time jobs and about the same number of temporary workers since December 2008 as demand faltered.
About 550 U.S. employees have returned or will return to work before the end of 2010, including support, management and production employees as demand increases, the company said on Oct. 26.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=az2v5ATsqoNg
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, plans to invest $200 million in India over five years to make construction equipment as demand grows in the second-fastest growing major economy.
The company is open to forming joint ventures with local manufacturers as it seeks to boost sales in India, where the government plans to add 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of roads a day, Richard Lavin, Caterpillar’s group president for the Asia region, said in an interview with Bloomberg-UTV.
“We’ve got to be manufacturing locally in order to be competitive in India and we are working right now on plans to significantly increase our investment in manufacturing engines and machines,” Lavin said. “In the coming years, a majority of our construction and mining equipment sales will take place in Asia Pacific, and India will play a large role.”
Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens is trying to position the Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar to benefit from growth in Asia by 2020 as sales drop at home in the U.S. Revenue share of the Asia-Pacific region will grow “aggressively” over the next 10 years, Lavin said.
India will award contracts worth 1 trillion rupees ($21 billion) to build about 7,500 miles of roads through June and the government will ease investment rules to boost highway projects, Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport and Highways said on Nov. 4. The nation needs $70 billion in investments in the next three to four years to meet its target of laying 4,350 miles of roads each year, he said in September.
‘Focus on Infrastructure’
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is aiming to accelerate India’s economic growth to between 9 percent and 10 percent over the next decade. Gross domestic product growth in Asia’s third- biggest economy may slow to as low as 6 percent in the year ending March, from an average 8.5 percent in the previous five years, as the worst global recession in seven decades hurt access to foreign capital.
“We are very encouraged by the focus on infrastructure build up in India, especially the roads and highways,” Lavin said. “We are looking at opportunities in working with our dealers and partners to be a part of that.”
Caterpillar is close to an agreement on an engine-making partnership in India and has received joint-venture offers from equipment makers in China, Lavin said on Aug. 4. It plans to extend loans to buyers of bulldozers and excavators in India and is talking to the government for approval for its financing unit, Lavin said.
Caterpillar on Oct. 20 said third-quarter profit dropped to $404 million from $868 million. Caterpillar has slashed inventories and production amid the worst decline in its markets since the Great Depression. It cut about 18,700 full-time jobs and about the same number of temporary workers since December 2008 as demand faltered.
About 550 U.S. employees have returned or will return to work before the end of 2010, including support, management and production employees as demand increases, the company said on Oct. 26.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=az2v5ATsqoNg
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