Escorts organises India’s first ever tractor retail financers’ meet

Leading Indian tractor manufacturer Escorts Limited organised India’s first Tractor Retail Financers’ meet at The Claridges, New Delhi. The event saw an overwhelming participation from the finance sector with players like Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, HDFC bank limited, ICICI limited and other leading NBFCs coming together to discuss the trends and potentials in the industry. Owing to a sustained rise in MSP, increase in crop yields, increased tractor usage in non-agri applications, higher participation of NBFC’s & private banks along with increase in availability of agri-credit, the tractor industry saw a CAGR of over 7% for the period of last twenty years. The meet was an initiative from Escorts to apprise the retail financing institutions of this phenomenal growth, its reasons and ways of promoting financial services in the industry to maximize tractor penetration in country. Stressing the need to achieve a rapid increase in tractor volumes for an inclusive growth in Indian agriculture, a detailed study was shared highlighting the sectors which required more attention in terms of financial support. Out of 82 million farming households in India, the majority are marginal and small farmers where currently the tractor penetration is minimal. This not only provides an opportunity for tractor companies but also to financing institutions as they can expect their revenues to grow at a CAGR of over 26pc in the next three years. Speaking at the occasion, S. Sridhar, Chief Executive Officer, Escorts Agri Machinery, said “The tractor industry will become No. 1 in terms of value in next ten years. It is the correct time today to sit together and chalk out ways and methods to reach out to those people who want to grow but have no means. We have to reach out to them with these financing solutions to let them be a part of the agricultural growth. We at Escorts see a tremendous potential for fruitful partnerships with the financing sector to realise the agri growth dream in country.”