The Sany Group of China, engaged in the manufacture of construction equipment, has chosen Talegaon near Pune to set up a $70-million Greenfield plant. This is the first big Chinese investment in Maharashtra. Sany will manufacture trailer and truck mounted concrete pumps, truck cranes, crawler cranes and other heavy construction equipment at the proposed plant. Sany Heavy Industries Co Ltd, a group company signed the memorandum of understanding with Maharashtra Government for setting up the facility.

The plant will come up on a 100-acre site and it is expected to employ 2,000 people. It will commence production by 2007 and has a capacity to produce 15,000 units per year.

Since 2002, Sany through its India subsidiary Sany Heavy Industry India Pvt Ltd already has presence in the Indian market. Now it wants to ride the new wave of large-scale real estate and infrastructure construction in the country.

Addressing the media after signing the MoU, Mr Liang Wengen, Chairman of Sany Group said that since 2002, Sany has done business in India worth $60 million and 2007 it is expected to do another $30 million. The group has chosen Maharashtra for its investment mainly due to availability of human resources.

Mr Sen He, CEO of the Sany Heavy Industry Pvt Ltd, said that in the current Indian sales revenues, 30 per cent was generated by renting out the equipment and rest by direct sales. The company has also considered using Tata and Ashok Leyland chassis for mounting its heavy equipment and tests are being conducted on Tata chassis.

In five years, local raw material for manufacturing the equipment would increase to 80 per cent, he said. The Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Mr D. K. Shakaran, said that the Sany is investing in the State at the right time, especially when major infrastructure of $60 billion are being planned for Mumbai. Presence of Sany equipment in Indian market will end the monopoly of manufactures from the Western countries, he said.

RCS Advisors is the exclusive advisor to Sany Group to set up their Greenfield plant in India.