Mahindra launches new OJA lightweight platform tractors

The new compact utility OJA tractors pack more power while weighing less than the regular-weight tractors. For example, the Mahindra OJA 2127 model is a tractor that weighs just 750 kg, as against 2,000 kg for the company’s regular 30 HP Bhoomiputra tractor.

On an average, the new tractors are 10-15 per cent smaller in size and 20-25 per cent lighter for the same HP class, said Vikram Wagh, CEO of M&M’s Farm Division.

Hemant Sikka (2nd from left), president of M&M’s farm equipment sector, Rajesh Jejurikar, CEO of M&M’s auto and farm sector (3rd from left), Vikram Wagh, CEO of farm division (right), and Pratap Bose, head of design at the launch function of Mahindra OJA tractor series in Cape Town. (Express photo/Harish Damodaran)

The higher power-to-weight ratio of the new tractors derives from their being entirely four-wheel drive based. Being lightweight, they are more manoeuvrable and cause less compaction of the soil.

Developed in collaboration with Mitsubishi Mahindra Agriculture Machines, Japan (in which M&M is a joint venture partner), at an investment of Rs 1,200 crore since 2018, the OJA tractors will be “Made in India for the world” at the company’s manufacturing facility in Zaheerabad, Telangana.

The new tractors will be priced at Rs 5,64,500 (in Pune, excluding insurance and road taxes) for OJA 2127 (27 HP) and Rs 7,35,000 for OJA 3140 (40 HP) models. They will become available for Indian farmers from October, before the new rabi crop season, and globally from January 2024.

“The new tractors will not replace our existing value products. Both will continue to be marketed through parallel channels. The OJA tractors will be used mainly in horticulture orchards and vineyards, besides for shallow puddling in paddy,” said Hemant Sikka, president, farm equipment sector, M&M.

Farm equipment accounted for Rs 34,870 crore out of M&M’s Rs 121,362 crore sales during the year that ended on March 31, 2023. The company sold 403,981 tractors last fiscal.

(The writer is at Cape Town on the invitation of Mahindra & Mahindra)