A Pune-built Potain tower crane at work in Bengaluru, southern India
L to R: Raman Joshi and Ashwani Mattoo from Manitowoc celebrate with Katthirvelu Ilango, managing director of Sai Infraaequipments, and his wife Vasugi Ilango
Manitowoc’s tower crane brand, Potain, has built more than 1,000 tower cranes at its manufacturing plant in Pune, India. Leading Indian rental company Sai Infraaequipments purchased the 1,001st crane and a handover ceremony was held in March to mark the occasion.
Manitowoc’s Pune factory has almost tripled its production rate in the past six years to meet growing demand for Potain’s high-quality products. Pune-built cranes are used at job sites across the world, from Bangladesh to Peru.
Potain was the first manufacturer to build tower cranes in India and the Pune factory remains one of the largest tower crane production facilities in the country – two facts that Ashwani Mattoo, Manitowoc’s tower crane sales director in India, is proud to highlight.
“We are very proud to pass this milestone and set the standard as the leading producer of high-quality tower cranes in India,” he says. “We have continually increased production to meet demand and we continually expand our product range to offer more diversity. We look forward to making the next 1,000 cranes.”
Sai Infraaequipments now owns 11 Potain tower cranes. The company was so impressed with the durability and efficiency of its first Potain crane that it bought 10 new Potain MCi 85 As in the space of 12 months, as Katthirvelu Ilango, managing director at Sai, who attended the handover event, explains.
“Potain has cemented its place as India’s leading producer of tower cranes, which made it an easy choice to buy this new crane,” he says. “We work to tight schedules on many different projects so we need excellent equipment that can be flexible. Our new Potain crane will get to work right away and we are certain it will be provide many years of efficient and reliable service.”
Sai’s Potain tower cranes are almost constantly in use and all 11 Potain cranes are currently at work. Projects include a 40-story residential tower in Bengalaru, a 16-story commercial development in Pune and a 14-story commercial project in Bangalore.
Potain’s Pune plant operates under the same processes and to the same high standards as all Manitowoc’s global production facilities. The factory recently passed the two-million-hour (735 days) mark with no lost time accidents.
In addition to working all over India, Pune-built Potain cranes are used at job sites around the world and can be found in countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Argentina, Peru, Columbia, Mexico and Egypt.
The Pune factory builds five models from the Potain range: the MC 125, MC 175 B, MC 205, MC 310, MCi 48 C and the MCi 85 A, which is one of the most popular tower cranes in India. The cranes offer capacities from 2.5 t to 10 t, with maximum jib lengths up to 60 m.