The new factory in India, in Vadodara near the Gujarat port of Surat on the west coast of India, represents a £100m investment for JCB. It will make parts for global production lines.
JCB first began manufacturing in India in 1979 and is now the country’s leading producer of construction equipment.
India has been JCB’s biggest market every year since 2007 and one in two of every construction machine sold in India today is made by JCB. JCB now has six factories in India at locations including Jaipur and Pune. The new facility, which is on a 47-acre site, will be capable of processing 85,000 tonnes of steel a year.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford said: “In its first year of full production, JCB India manufactured just 39 machines and by next year will have made a total of half a million. This country is now a major engineering power and being here has transformed our business. It has been a fabulous success, with so much more potential for growth. Such progress has only been possible by continued investment and the opening of our new Gujarat facility is an important step in growing our business here and around the world.”
JCB India chief executive Deepak Shetty said: “This new facility will create around 1,200 direct jobs when complete and thousands more in the supply chain. It will also be a benchmark in the industry on gender diversity and modern technologies in laser cutting, welding and machining. Vadodara is a strategic location for JCB India given its proximity to ports and availability of raw materials and skilled talent. We would like to thank the government of Gujarat for its phenomenal support with this project.”
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