TAFE begins making Germany's DEUTZ engines in Alwar, with an eye on exports
TAFE Motors has begun building DEUTZ-licensed diesel engines at its Alwar plant in Rajasthan, its first manufacturing tie-up with the German maker, with capacity for 35,000 engines a year and an eye on exports.
TAFE Motors has begun producing DEUTZ-licensed diesel engines at its Alwar plant in Rajasthan, in what the company calls its first manufacturing collaboration with Germany's DEUTZ AG, aimed at both domestic and export markets.
The plant localises production of a global engine maker's designs in India, with the company citing annual capacity for 35,000 engines and 50,000 sub-assemblies, part of it for export. It takes TAFE's engines business beyond tractors and feeds Rajasthan's drive to pull in manufacturing investment.
TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited, a wholly-owned TAFE subsidiary, inaugurated the facility at its existing Alwar plant, where it will build DEUTZ-licensed 2.2L and 2.9L engines. The company describes the line as Industry 4.0-enabled, with full manufacturing-execution-system integration. It was inaugurated by Rajasthan's Industry and Commerce Minister, Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Chairman and MD Mallika Srinivasan said group engine capacity across TAFE and the Amalgamations Group is projected to grow from 4 lakh to 5.5 lakh units a year by 2030. The company says the facility runs a 40% women workforce.
DEUTZ, founded in Cologne in 1864, describes itself as the world's oldest engine company. TAFE is one of India's largest tractor and engine makers; its Alwar division already builds diesel engines and gensets in the 5 to 125 kVA range, sold as Eicher and TAFE engines.
TAFE frames the plant as a step toward becoming a world-class engine manufacturer. Three numbers that would show how big a bet it is remain undisclosed: investment, jobs and export share.
