KION opens India’s largest material handling equipment facility in Pune.KION India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KION Group AG, has officially inaugurated its Factory 2.0, a new production site, which is India’s largest material handling equipment manufacturing facility. The new factory is located 27 km from Pune central at Koregaon Bhima. KION India’s previous manufacturing site operated from Chandan Nagar in Pune.State-of-the-art investment“KION Group continues to invest in India, looking at the growth opportunity available here. We have seen that the Indian market is growing rapidly and the demand for high performance products is increasing as well, which is the domain of KION Group,” states CP Quek, Chief Asia Pacific Officer and member, KION’s Executive Board, attending the launch ceremonies.With an investment of more than Rs.1.25 billion (>€15 million) in real estate and equipment, the new state-of-the-art facility is spread across 25 acre with an annual production capacity of 10,000 units in Phase-1. The factory is integrated with three assembly lines, machine shop, paint shop, parts warehouse and R&D, all under one roof. The factory manufactures diesel and electric forklifts as well as warehousing equipment such as battery-operated pallet trucks, reach trucks and electric stackers. The manufacturing site is also home to a research and design engineering centre, which focuses on understanding the ever-changing requirements and trends of the Indian market and develop products to match them. With this facility in place, KION Group has made a total investment in India of nearly Rs.3.50 billion.Driving growth“This new factory represents the next step in the material handling equipment industry by India’s market leader and we are confident that KION India will continue to drive growth in the domain through technology transfer and indigenisation. The factory represents our long-term commitment to the market here in India, its customers, employees, vendors and our channel partners,” explains Sunil K Gupta, President, KION India. The entire production site is home to more than 400 employees. KION India also deploys more than 425 employees in the sales and service areas overseeing the needs of its customers. The new factory is a 700-kVA solar power facility and also includes water conservation and waste management processes that are aligned with KION Group’s sustainability initiatives. KION India looks forward to localising high performance products, many of which are new to the Indian market. It is also on track to provide the best in terms of productivity, technology, quality and after-sales support.KION India designs, manufactures, distributes services and supports palletised material handling equipment under the Linde, OM Voltas, Baoli and OM brands for the Indian market.With its comprehensive range of equipment, ranging from 1.5 tonne to 16 tonne diesel forklift, 1.5 tonne to 3.5 tonne electric forklift, a range of warehousing equipment and over 100 customer touch points across India, the KION India brands look to sustainably cater to the needs of an ever modernising Indian industry.(Communication by the management of the company)