Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has forayed into the road construction equipment segment with the introduction of its first motor grader, the Mahindra RoadMaster G75 in the Indian market.
Targeted at road contractors, the G75 is meant for spreading and grading applications in road construction and will find application in government programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Smart City, as well as for major district roads, border roads and rural roads, the company said. The G75 is powered by a 79 HP DiTEC engine developed by Mahindra and is manufactured at the company’s facility at Chakan in Pune. The product has undergone over 6,000 hours of rigorous testing in the harshest of terrains and for the toughest of applications, the company said.
“This product has been designed and developed in India after an in-depth understanding of the needs of the road contractor fraternity. Our aim is to liberate them from deployment of various sub-optimal methods with limited mechanization and thereby improve their productivity,” said Rajan Wadhera, president, Automotive Sector, M&M.
“The RoadMaster provides an opportunity for maximum equipment utilization and delivers excellent quality output, increasing the profitability of road contractors,” he added.
Vinod Sahay, CEO, Truck and Bus Division and Construction Equipment Division, M&M said, “The G75 is a disruptive, category creating motor grader which is suitable for constructing small to medium roads as well as widening of state and national highways. It can also be used in applications such as embankment or earthwork for laying of railway tracks and levelling of large plots for industrial construction.”
Tractor sales surge
Separately, the farm equipment business of M&M reported a 52% jump in domestic sales of tractors in September 2017. The company during the month sold 44,000 tractors as compared to 29,035 units during September 2016. Total tractor sales (domestic + exports) during September 2017 were at 45,563 units, as against 30,562 units for the same period last year. Exports for the month stood at 1,563 units.