Kobelco Construction Equipment India Pvt. Ltd. (KCEI), the Indian arm of the Japanese Kobelco Group, has expanded its manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh for the fifth consecutive time, a top official said. “With the manufacturing capacity almost hitting its upper limit, we have gone for this expansion, and now onwards the plant will have an annual production capacity of 3,600 units per annum,” said Kazuhide Naraki, global chairman, Kobelco Construction Machinery, after inaugurating the new facility.
“With this expansion, we are sure to meet the domestic requirement and as well as the exports,” he added.
At Sri City, KCEI manufactures hydraulic excavators and crawler cranes of different models and capacities. It invested about ₹100 crore for commissioning the new plant of 6,500 sq. mtrs. area, and it took 12 months time to complete the expansion works.
Company’s MD & CEO Koji Nakagawa traced the growth of KCEI since its inception in Sri City and said that in August, the unit had produced the 10,000th hydraulic excavator.
“It is the very first Japanese company to step in here. It is the first original equipment manufacturer and it is the first company that has gone for fifth expansion,” said Ravindra Sannareddy, founder and MD, Sri City.
