Global construction equipment manufacturer JCB is set to double its capacity at a key Indian factory after beginning work on a £36 million expansion project.

The investment centres on the company’s plant in Ballabgarh, near New Delhi, where JCB India manufactures backhoe loaders. At a ceremony to mark the start of work at the site, The Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, laid a special foundation stone watched by JCB’s Group Chief Operating Officer Matthew Taylor, JCB India Managing Director Vipin Sondhi and JCB’s Head of Manufacturing Alan Blake.

Matthew Taylor said: “India is developing at a very fast pace with huge investments in infrastructure. As a result, JCB’s business in India continues to go from strength to strength and the expansion at Ballabgarh will allow us to meet the growing demand for our machines in the coming years.”

JCB first began manufacturing in India, at the Ballabgarh site, in 1979 under a joint venture agreement. In 2003 JCB India became a wholly owned subsidiary of JCB and today the company is the number one manufacturer of construction equipment in India, with over 50 per cent market share. The company employs about 1,400 people in India, including around 850 at the Ballabgarh plant and has 42 dealers with 264 outlets in the country.

The Ballabgarh plant is one of three JCB factories in India, with two others in Pune, near Mumbai. The Ballabgarh plant produces backhoe loaders, one Pune factory produces steel fabrications while the other manufactures excavators, wheeled loading shovels and JCB Vibromax compaction equipment.

Last year, JCB became the first construction equipment manufacturer to sell over 10,000 machines in India in a year and, in February this year, the company became the first in the industry to sell a total of 50,000 machines in the country. JCB has 17 factories worldwide, with a global workforce of more than 8,000 people.