SANY India, a leading manufacturer of construction equipment, announced the grand opening of its 3,000 sq ft Company Owned, Company Operated (COCO) office in Delhi, which aims to play a crucial role in the company’s vision of enhancing customer satisfaction and driving growth in the Indian market. The office is equipped with modern infrastructure and advanced technology to support the company's operations and provide an excellent working environment for its employees. Contact: Sany India Tel: 2135 670288 Email: corporate.india@sanygroup.com Website: www.sany.in CASE India launches second phase of its Project LEAD initiative in the country CASE Construction Equipment has introduced the second leg of its Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship Awareness Development (LEAD) project across cities in India to promote rural entrepreneurship and economic empowerment. By equipping rural youth with entrepreneurial skills, the initiative aims to decrease urban migration while simultaneously promoting reverse migration. The project focuses on creating awareness about subsidiary income generation avenues through training programmes conducted via a mobile training centre van. The LEAD 2.0 initiative, launched from Faridabad, builds on the success of its initial phase by targeting the youth in an additional 1,500 villages located in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Odisha, Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand. Contact: CASE India Website: www.casece.com Mercedes-Benz mulls assembling more EVs in India German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz is considering assembling more electric vehicles at its plant in India not merely to gain cost advantage but also to meet its zero emission mobility and carbon neutral setup goals. Mercedes-Benz India, which currently assembles its flagship electric luxury sedan EQS at its Chakan unit, is considering localisation of other models depending on demand. Mercedes-Benz India had started assembling the EQS from 2022 at the Chakan plant. It is the only model locally assembled out of the four EV models -- SUVs EQA, EQB and EQE; and sedan EQS -- that it currently sells in India. Globally, it had set a target to make its entire fleet of new vehicles net carbon-neutral along the entire value chain and over the vehicles' whole life cycle by 2039. Contact: Mercedes-Benz Website: www.mercedes-benz.comCustoms duty exemption on lithium, cobalt to aid growth of EVs The proposed exemption in customs duty on import of lithium, cobalt and other rare minerals in the Union Budget 2024-25 may lower battery production cost and help in making electric vehicles more affordable for buyers, auto industry leaders said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25 proposed to fully exempt customs duties on 25 critical minerals and reduce Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on two of them. This will provide a major fillip to the processing and refining of such minerals and help secure their availability for these strategic and important sectors, she noted. Minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements are critical for sectors like nuclear energy, renewable energy and high-tech electronics, Sitharaman stated. Liebherr: First large wheel loader with hydrogen engine At the Liebherr plant in Bischofshofen, the world's first large wheel loader with a hydrogen engine was presented to high-ranking representatives. The focus was on Liebherr's impressive machine show, where the hydrogen wheel loader was demonstrated for the first time in practical use. At the same time as this world première, the first hydrogen filling station in the state of Salzburg was inaugurated, representing an important milestone in the use of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source. The L 566 H from Liebherr is the world's first prototype large wheel loader with a hydrogen engine. Contact: Liebherr Website: www.liebherr.com