Nellore: Ground breaking ceremony held for Kobelco Cranes unit
KCI had set up its first unit at Sri City in a plot of 10 acres in 2012
Nellore: In its quest to cash in on the emerging business opportunities in the country, M/s Kobelco Cranes India (KCI), the Indian arm of the Japanese crane manufacturer M/s Kobelco Cranes, conducted ground breaking ceremony, an auspicious ritual marking the start of construction for its second production unit at Sri City on Wednesday.
Mr Tsukamoto, President & CEO, Kobelco Cranes, Japan along with Mr Yutaka Goto, President & Director, KCI performed pooja in the august prese-nce of Mr Seiji Baba, Consulate General of Japan in Chennai, Mr Hidehiro Ishiura, Director General, JETRO, Mr Ravindra Sannareddy, Managing Director, Sri City and a host of other dignitaries.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Seiji Baba complimented the Kobelco Cranes team for expanding their production unit. He said, “Consequent to the visit of Mr N. Chand-rababu Naidu to Japan, the leading industries of that country are showing keen interest in investing in Andhra Pradesh, and this will strengthen the business relation between the two countries.”
Mr Tsukamoto in his speech traced the development of Kobelco Cranes India since its inception and thanked all the customers and staff. Mr Ravindra Sannareddy said, “Kobelco Group is the very first Japanese customer in Sri City, and I am very happy that one of its three units - 'KCI' is expanding its facilities,within three years of its existence in India."
"I am also happy as KCI would provide more job opportunities to the locals. With its expansion, I am confident, KCI would capture a larger market share, and export their 'Made in India' products to other countries," he added.
Mr. Yutaka Goto in his address said,"I am truly excited to be able to expand our production base in India, and the new unit is intended to meet the demands from shipping industry." "We would fully utilise our facility to expand our business in India and in the neighbouring countries," he added.
KCI had set up its first unit at Sri City in a plot of 10 acres in 2012, and Within two years it rolled out its 100th crane. This is Kobelco's first overseas crawler crane production base. Also, Kobelco is the first foreign mobile crane manufacturer in India. The company manufactures top quality and reliable hydraulic crawler cranes of 100-tonne, 150-tonne and 250-tonne class.
As this facility is bursting at the seams, KCI signed an agreement with Sri City for additional space during November 2014. By maximising the advantages of local production in India, a market where further growth in demand is expected, Kobelco Cranes seeks to capture a greater share of market demand and firmly establish a local presence.