Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Low-cost tractor launched in city

Staff Reporter

'It's more economical to farmers than a pair of bullocks'

Vijayawada: A 22-horse power tractor priced at less than half the price of other tractors in the market was launched here on Tuesday. Executive vice-president of SAS Motors Limited Gautam Das announced that the company was formally launching Angad 240D in the State.

Field demos

SAS Motors, a relatively new company, would manufacture and market the tractor through a network of 300 dealers in the country this fiscal year.

The company had seven dealers already in the State, but the tractor was being launched in a big way now. The tractor would be popularised through field demonstrations.

The company has 49 dealers in Maharashtra, 44 in Madhya Pradesh, 20 in Gujarat, 15 in Karnataka and more in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal. Mr. Das said a study undertaken by the company showed that Angad would be more "economical to farmers than a pair of bullocks".

While operating Angad would cost just Rs. 37,524 a year, maintaining a pair of bullocks would cost Rs. 40,750.

Mr. Das said the popular 35-horsepower tractor was twice as expensive, and would consume 25 per cent more fuel than Angad. These expensive tractors were not within the reach of an average farmer.

Angad was conceived and manufactured with the idea of bringing tractors within the reach of average farmers. Only five per cent of farmers in the country owned tractors, 15 per cent hired tractors at an exorbitant rent of Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 an hour.

The remaining 80 per cent of farmers were still using traditional methods to till the land, he said.

Mr. Das observed that agricultural productivity was low due to these factors and the disparity between farmers was growing. Angad was designed to harbinger a second green revolution in the country, he added.

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