Tanker units make hay while the sun shines

Manufacturers say orders for water tanks that are later fitted on trucks or tractors started coming in from the first week of December and increased sharply by the second week of March. Several new units manufacturing water tankers have started coming up in Ahmednagar and Pune.

Vishwanath Ponde of Nagar who owns an MS tank unit said,“The demand rises between December and May. Last year,between December and March my unit sold about 20 tankers. This year in the same period we sold more than 90. As far as I know,various units in Nagar district have sold double the number of tankers they sold in the corresponding period of last fiscal.”

Dinkar Ghige,another manufacturer,said,“Much of the demand is from districts like Jalna,Beed,Osmanabad and even some places in Nagar. All these are private parties who have either taken contract from government agencies to provide water or operate on their own.”

Manufacturers said tanks of capacities between 10,000 litre and 12,000 litre are in demand and cost between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000.

Sushil Bhujabal,another manufacturer in Aale Phata in Pune district,who started a tank manufacturer unit this year,said,“Our family was looking for a new short-term business. We set up the tank manufacturing unit and since December have sold over 100 units in Pune,Nashik,Jalna,Beed and Osmanabad.”