Briggs & Stratton to help farmers in India mechanize

Briggs & Stratton, a U.S.-based manufacturer of petrol-driven engines for outdoor power equipment, announced that by August 2013, it plans to increase its dealer network in India from 90 to between 170 and 200.
“We want to have a dealer in every district and a sub-dealer in every taluk,” said K.V. Balachander, the company’s sales and marketing director. In November 2011, the company acquired Premier Power Equipments and Products, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery based in Coimbatore, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. At a press conference, Balachander divulged that Briggs & Stratton bought Premier Power Equipment for around US$3 million, and stressed that it wants to help Indian farmers achieve their dream of mechanization.
Briggs & Stratton engines run on petrol, which costs much more in India than government-subsidized diesel fuel. Roger Jann, Briggs & Stratton managing director – EMEA, said the company sources its diesel engines from Japan, and that it will take more than a year for the company to make a diesel engine. Commercial production could take longer. (August 26, 2012)