Greener Pastures Ahead

VST Tillers Tractors is a Bangalore-based, VST Group company which manufatures tractors, farming power tillers and diesel engines. Operating majorly in the South Indian market, the company has developed most of the products in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan. There are numerous players in the market, but what makes VST Tillers a different one is its focus on low-power budget tractors and tillers, which target a big chunk of farmers in India who have relatively smaller land sizes. Industry In India, farmers have a relatively smaller per capita land size as compared to other farming nations. Power tillers are more economically viable for small farming lands. The tiller market in India is picking up pace, with 25 per cent of the tillers needed being imported from China. In the tractor segment, India is the biggest market and manufaturer in the world. The total tractor production in India was 6,19,000 units in 2013, which accounted for 29 per cent of the world production. In the high-power tractor segment, five companies account for 80 per cent of the market share, with M&M being the biggest player. Strengths Tractors: Unlike other players in the tractor market, VST Tillers has placed itself in a different segment. It manufactures only light-power tractors of 18.5 and 22 horse power (HP) under the 'Shakti' brand name. Majority of Indian farmers find it very expensive to afford a medium 31-40 HP tractor, a

This article was originally published on May 22, 2015.