JCB's two new Indian plants in Jaipur have created one million square feet of new manufacturing space.

JCB celebrated 35 years of manufacturing in India last Friday with the opening of two new factories in Jaipur, India. The investment was worth GBP62 million (USD97 million).

Company chairman Lord Bamford and the chief minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, were at the official opening of the two plants located on a 115 ac. (47 ha) site, which will provide one million sqft. (92,900 sqm) of manufacturing space.

Lord Bamford's vision led JCB to start manufacturing in India under a joint venture agreement in 1979 at a site in Ballabgarh, near Delhi, which is now JCB India's headquarters.

India overtook the UK as JCB's single largest market in 2007, a position it has maintained ever since. Since it was established in 1945, JCB has manufactured over one million machines and 200,000 of those have been made in India.

Lord Bamford pictured with Vasundhara Raje, the chief minister of Rajasthan at the official opening of JCB's two new plants.

Lord Bamford said at the opening: "I could never have imagined when we first started out in business in India 35 years ago that we would have become as successful as we have. One of the keys to that success is to continually invest for growth and that is exactly what we have done with these two new factories in Jaipur. When the market returns to growth, we will be very well placed to meet the increased demand."

While the Indian market declined by 20% this year, JCB has invested heavily in the new facilities to prepare for the expected return to growth driven by India's increased spending on infrastructure projects.

JCB now has five factories in India in addition to 12 in the UK and others in Brazil, China and the USA. JCB India produces construction equipment and its factory near Delhi makes backhoe loaders and engines.

Component manufacturing is already under way at one of the Jaipur plants and next year production will begin of telescopic handlers and skid steer loaders for the Indian market. The facility will also provide additional backhoe loader capacity from 2015.

Located 35 km (22 mi.) from Jaipur city, the new plants represent the JCB Group's largest single construction project in its 69-year history. When fully operational, they will employ more than 1,000 people.

JCB India also has two factories in Pune, where the company manufactures excavators, wheeled loaders and compaction equipment. The company has the strongest and the largest distribution network in India, with 60 dealers and 600 outlets.

Separately, JCB Finance Ltd, a major funder of agricultural machinery in the UK, has launched a new GBP60 million (USD94 million) fund to support farm machinery purchases.

The new scheme offers customers purchasing farm machinery the opportunity to buy now and pay later on machines delivered by the end of the year. Its launch comes as figures reveal that farm borrowing has increased by almost 10%.