JAIPUR: Angad -- a low-price 22-horsepower tractor -- was launched here on Tuesday with the promise of revolutionising rural economy by creating a stable and perennial source of income for small and marginal farmers. Angad is claimed to be 40 per cent cheaper than tractors of comparable horsepower available in the country.

SAS Motors, which launched the Angad 240-D model at a function here, affirmed that it would prove to be a breadwinner for the rural poor by going far beyond the traditional use for agriculture. Small farmers would be able to create an alternative stream of income from the tractor.

SAS Motors' Managing Director Ravindra Kumar said farmers with small landholdings could provide transport services with Angad during the months when tillage of land is not needed. The tractor can also help in generating electricity and drawing ground water.

Mr. Kumar said the tractor had been priced at Rs.1.49 lakhs with its low-cost machinery produced in China by a factory owned by SAS Motors. The tractor has already been launched in Maharashtra, Gujarat and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

SAS Motors has made as many as 135 modifications in the Chinese model of the tractor to suit the needs of Indian farmers and established units in Pune, Kolkata and Bhopal where the tractor's parts are assembled. Mr. Kumar said Angad could even be assembled at the tehsil level and repaired by a cycle mechanic, reducing the maintenance costs by 30 per cent.

The Angad model launched in Rajasthan comes loaded with a 22-HP single cylinder engine which is 30 per cent more fuel-efficient than any other tractor. Mr. Kumar said the tractor would make it possible for small farmers to sell their produce directly in the wholesale market enabling them to fetch better prices.

Describing Angad as a "suitable alternative to a camel cart'', Mr. Kumar said SAS Motors had sold nearly 3,000 tractors during the past year and a half across the country.

After Rajasthan, the company plans to launch Angad in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Orissa.

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