Lines of Gold

By Niranjan Mudholkar,

Added 07 January 2015

While strengthening its position in the domestic market, the Sonalika Group is also aiming to grab a bigger share in the global pie, says AS Mittal, the Vice Chairman of the Group.

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Eye on the global pie
About three months back, Sonalika announced investments of Rs500 crore to more than double production capacity of its plant at Hoshiarpur in Punjab to two lakh units annually.

"The plant* will be the largest integrated tractor manufacturing plant in the world. We will be able to manufacture one tractor every two minutes with an integrated single line from start of sub-assembly to roll out of a tractor. The plant will be ready by June 2015. The strategy is to grab a bigger share in the global pie. We target a revenue of Rs1500 crore from exports with the installation of this state-of-the-art facility."

Features of the new plant

•           PT/CED for higher corrosion resistance.
•           Robotic painting for both base coat and top coat.
•           Environment friendly plant; usage of energy conservation concepts.
•           Automated Guided Vehicle for assembly and materials feeding.
•           Robust processes for world class quality.
•           Fully automatic test rigs for hydraulic lift and transmission testing.
•           High precision CNC machines from Mazak and other reputed sources.
•           Imported inspection equipments such coordinate measuring machines.
•           High rise and advanced materials storage and feeding system.
•           Single production line for all variants and models.
•           Integrated single line from start of sub-assembly to roll out of tractor.
•           State of the art engine assembly line for 500 engines/day.

Minding the gap
While Sonalika has been progressing quite well, there is a fair bit of gap between it and the number two and number one players in India in terms of market share in the tractors segment. But Mittal is undeterred by this gap.

He says: "The gap appears high since both the number one and the number two players each have two different companies with them and they are reflecting the combined market share. Any way we shall bridge the gap in the time to come."

Mittal's confidence stems from the fact that Sonalika has a lot of things working in its favour. The annual average growth of 30 percent makes it one of the fastest growing companies in India. Moreover, it is also one of the few debt free corporates.The word Sonalika is actually derived from the name of a special variety of wheat seeds that played a big role in the success of the Green revolution in India. Interestingly, Sonalika means ‘Lines of Gold' in Hindi (Sone ki Lakeerein).

According to AS Mittal, the top management at Sonalika believes that these ‘Lines of Gold' represent a spirit of prosperity and success. "We have taken the same spirit forward not only in India but to over 70 countries across the world. Today, we continue to spread this spirit with the same fervour and optimism and climb new horizons of success that are still untouched and unexplored," he says.
END