Cummins India, the subsidiary of the US-based global company Cummins Inc, is all set to commence production of its state-of-the-art 4.5 litre engine system for wheeled equipment at its Pune plant from this month. Cummins which designs, manufactures and markets diesel and natural gas engines, has been collaborating with the construction equipment industry in India for over 45 years.

The construction equipment vehicle (CEV) BS-IV-certified engines were approved by the International Centre for Automotive technology (ICAT) in last October.

The Phaltan manufacturing plant in Pune will manufacture electronically-controlled Cummins B4.5 engines spanning 121-200 hp (90-149 kW) power range. Initially, the company is putting up an annual production capacity of 30,000-50,000 engines at the plant which is designed to accommodate future expansion.

"B4.5 is one of our flagship products globally. We are bringing it for the first time to the Indian market. This month its manufacturing will be fully on-stream and the engines will be available for the Indian market and for export to consumers worldwide," Anjali Pandey, vice president - engine business and components business, Cummins India, said.

Based on SCR technology, the inline 4-cylinder B4.5 delivers 16% more power and 11% more torque than the current version of this engine, the company said. This engine offers 3% better fuel efficiency than its counterpart and can be used in wheeled equipment including wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, compactor, harvester, and pavers. According to the company, this product can easily be scaled up to BS-V emission norms and beyond.

The new emission norms for construction equipment vehicles will come into force from April 2021, providing a deferment of six months. These norms were applicable from October last year but the lockdowns impacted testing of machines and engine components and disrupted supply chains.

Other segments

Besides the CE space, the company is also mulling to supply this engine to the power-gen industry and heavy-duty trucks. “Globally we have applied this engine to off-highway as well as on-highway. As we bring this to India we will supply B4.5 to power-gen and commercial vehicle space in the next 4-5 years,” Pandey added.

Currently the company is catering to the domestic CE industry with its mechanically controlled B3.3 engine that comes with a 55-hp to 85- hp (41-63 kW) power range. Going forward, the company also has plans to upgrade its current B6.7 engines to CEV Stage-IV emission norms for the Indian construction equipment market.

At present, the company has strong partnership with excavator OEMs including Tata Hitachi, Sany, Hyundai Construction Equipment and JCB in India and globally.

In Q2 FY21, Cummins India reported 20.6% fall in net profit to INR 145.55 crore on 11.2% decline in net sales to INR 1141.33 crore over the same period in FY20. Due to stalled economic activities, the company's domestic sales declined by 22% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 743 crore during the quarter. Exports, however, saw 18% YoY growth to INR 398 crore owing to pent-up demand and early signs of demand recovery in few export markets.

"Our domestic business has recovered to 80% of last year levels, led by faster recovery in distribution, construction and mining segments, as we expect gradual recovery in the powergen segment," Ashwath Ram, managing director, Cummins India, said in a statement.

Cummins India, part of USD 23.6 billion Cummins Inc, is a group of seven legal entities across 200 locations in the country with a combined turnover of over INR 13,700 crore in 2019 and employing over 10,000 individuals. The company has not provided a full year revenue guidance for FY21 due to uncertain market conditions, though it expects gradual recovery of demand in upcoming quarters.