The manufacturer says the extended facilities will help it capitalise on market opportunities for its quarrying equipment across India, south-east Asia, the Middle East and southern Africa.
Following the extension, the total size of the Alwar factory will be approximately 340,000 square metres, adding 35% more capacity to the factory.
Markku Simula, president of the aggregates business area of Metso, says the Alwar site in the state of Rajasthan has had several extensions since it initially opened in 2008, with the latest being the largest yet, increasing the size of the factory by about one third and making it the company's largest manufacturing facility.
He added that the new extension will focus entirely on producing mobile track-mounted crushing and screening machines from several Metso Group brands. In addition to the mobile Metso Lokotrack equipment, the increased capacity will be used to manufacture mobile McCloskey and Tesab equipment. At the same site, Metso also produces wear parts and pumps for the aggregates and mining industries.
Simula says that India, south-east Asia and the Middle East represent "tremendous growth markets" for Metso.
"If you look at our aggregates business globally, we are extremely strong in North America and Europe," he added. "Where we see the future growth opportunities is the eastern hemisphere. The countries that are most vibrant right now are India and Saudi Arabia. There is a lot of activity in quarrying in India. The Indian domestic [crushing and screening quarrying equipment] market is very competitive. We are by far the number one international player in India and the second largest overall after one of the domestic players."
Simula says particular opportunities in India come from the Indian government's plans to increase highway construction in the country from 39km per day to 60km per day.
Metso's NW Rapid range of portable wheel-mounted crushing machines, which can be set up very quickly, was developed to meet the needs of the Indian quarrying sector.
Simula adds that there are also major opportunities for Metso's business in Saudi Arabia from a number of huge projects such as The Line linear smart city that is under construction in Tabuk Province. The 170km-long city is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 project to diversify the country away from its current dependence on oil production.
The Alwar factory now employs approximately 1,300 people in total. The official opening of the new facilities took place on September 19, 2023, and Metso says that production ramp-up to reach full capacity will continue until the end of the year.
Currently, 38% of the Alwar plant's output is for the Indian domestic market with 62% being exported to 80 different countries.
The new factory showcases the most modern manufacturing practices, hosting several sustainability-driven functions like automated warehousing, automated assembly lines, modern painting lines and 13,000 solar panels installed to enable the increased energy production. After the extension, solar energy covers 85% of Alwar’s total power generation, which is maximum permitted as per state government guidelines.
”With the increased manufacturing capacity, Alwar becomes the major Metso site for increased domestic business in India and exports to Metso’s customers globally," Simula says. "Additionally, significant investment has been made in engineering and R&D resources, making it one of our key global engineering hubs."
The expanded engineering centre at Alwar now has around 100 engineers and Simula says it will play an important role in product development for the company.
