Germany's Claas group opens production unit in Punjab

Morinda (Punjab), Oct 16 (IANS) Claas India Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Germany's Class group, Thursday inaugurated a harvester combine unit at Morinda near Chandigarh.

This is the second production unit of Claas group in India after its Faridabad plant.

'The production plant that has been spread over 10 hectares took over 15 months for completion. We have invested around 20 million euros ($27 million) in this project and have provided employment to over 350 people,' Claas India president and managing director Pardeep K. Malik told reporters.

The company is planning to export its products to various countries from this unit.

'In the first phase, we have production capacity of around 900-950 units per year, but in the second phase we will increase this to around 1,200-1,250 units per year,' said Malik.

'India is already a leader in software and steel production, now it is destined to reach remarkable milestones in the business of agriculture equipments,' Claas group deputy chairperson Catherina Claas.

Claas group has 14 production units located all over the world.

'We will manufacture combine harvester, named Crop Tiger with multi-crop harvesting abilities. This unit is equipped with the latest paint shop, manufacturing and fabrication technology as well as fully integrated process and quality control,' said Lothar Kriszun, member of the executive board of the group.