Claas India Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Claas Gruppe, the agri machinery manufacturer from Germany, is planning to establish a new harvester plant in Morinda, Punjab, at a cost of around Rs 100 crore.
The project will come up in two phases. Phase-I will entail an investment of Rs 60 crore, while the remaining Rs 40 crore will be invested in phase-II. The entire project is expected to be complete by 2010.
The new facility, expected to start operations by mid-2008, will produce the 'Crop Tiger 60' combine harvester that is already being developed at its existing plant in Faridabad, Haryana.
The company also wants to use India as its exporting hub, mainly for the Asian region.
The company has exported 750 harvesters at a cost of about Rs 12 crore from the Faridabad plant so far.
Claas is also planning to expand its product portfolio in India by introducing products like bailer machine to meet the needs of agriculturists. Initially the bailer machinery from its German facility will be imported, but it plans to set up a domestic manufacturing unit, costing around Rs 60-90 crore in the next couple of years.

Contact: Claas India Ltd, 15/3 Mathura Road, Faridabad, Haryana 121003. Tel: 0129-2270660; Fax: 0129-5042764 or Simone Engelmeier, Public Relations, Claas Gruppe, Postfach 11 63 33426, Harsewinkel, Germany. Tel: +49 (0)52 47/12-1743; E-mail: pr@claas.com