Escorts ties up with SBI for agri service vertical

NEW DELHI: Tractor maker Escorts Ltd today said it has inked a pact with State Bank of India under which the bank will provide financial assistance to facilitate lease hire, sale and service of the company's farm equipment.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the two parties, Escort will assist the SBI in identifying eligible dealers and based on criteria the bank will provide financial assistance to the identified dealers, Escorts Ltd said in a statement.

"This will enable Escorts to service the target markets of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu," it added.

The company's agro service vertical--Escorts Crop solution (ECS)-- is an initiative through which Escorts intends to provide farm machinery to small and marginal farmers.

Commenting on the development, Escorts Agri Machinery CEO S Sridhar said conventionally farm mechanisation strategies are tractor centric, whereas the company's focus is to be crop centric and offer complete end to end farm machinery solutions.

"The alliance with SBI aims at addressing these challenges by providing easy and absolute access of machines along with the required financial assistance," he added.

Escorts sells around 60,000 tractors every year of which substantial number are supported by SBI credit.

Escorts group is present across various sectors, including agri machinery, railway equipment and auto components.