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. |
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