JCB India Ltd is a leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment in India and unlike in the rest of the world, mining is a major focus market for the company in India. The company started as a joint venture in 1979 and is now a fully owned subsidiary of J.C. Bamford Excavators (JCB) in the UK. With five state-of-the-art factories in India, it today manufactures a wide range of world-class equipment, not only for India, but also for global markets.
It introduced backhoe loaders in India close to four decades ago and has since expanded its product range to over 50 different models in eight product categories. The Ballabgarh factory near New Delhi, which is the world’s largest factory for backhoe loaders, is also the headquarters for JCB India. This facility, apart from backhoe loaders, also manufactures skid steer loaders, telehandlers, diesel generators and diesel engines. The company expanded its operations in 2006 and 2007 by setting up two factories at Pune for its Heavyline business. These factories manufacture tracked excavators, wheeled loaders, compaction equipment and Fabrications for the Group. With over 400 engineers, Pune also has JCB’s largest Design Centre outside of the UK.
A further investment in India was made at Jaipur in 2014 with the inauguration of a 114-acre, eco-friendly, green manufacturing facility. This facility today manufactures Mini Excavators, Skid Steers and Fabrications.
JCB India states: “India has a unique blend of big and small, manual and mechanised, opencast and underground mines. The total number of working coal mines as on date are 572, in the oil sector there are 29 oil projects excluding installations off-shore beyond territorial waters. As far as metaliferous mines are concerned, a fair estimate indicates about 6,000. The total workforce of the mining industry in India consists of about one million workers. The sector is witnessing a lot of growth primarily due to the rise in infrastructure development and automotive production. Power and cement industries are also aiding growth, while the demand for iron and steel is set to continue, given the strong growth expectations for the residential and commercial building industry. There is also a significant scope for new mining capacities in iron ore, bauxite and coal and considerable opportunities for future discoveries of sub- surface deposits. In February 2017, the country’s coal ministry allowed private companies to engage in mining activities for commercial purposes. With this overview and a clear vision of the development needs of the country, the mining industry requires the technological know how of state-of-the-art mining equipment and mining machinery to leverage its true potential.”
JCB says it has a range of mining equipment and mining machinery that is exceptionally suited for the stone quarrying and mining industry. “From excavation, hauling and loading to road maintenance, dozing, power backup and maintenance, JCB’s range of wheeled loaders and excavators are the perfect mining machine partners. From 20 t to 38 t, JCB mining excavators are the ultimate mining machines when it comes to delivering against various performance parameters including output and fuel efficiency, reliability and durability and very critical to this industry, mining equipment service and guaranteed mining machine support. The JCB wheeled loaders spanning from 3 t – 5 t boast of industry-leading performance and operating cost that deliver best-in-class output amongst mining equipment and mining machinery.”