All You need to know about Marut E Tract: India's first electronic tractor built by Nikunj Korat
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: November 29, 2022 06:11 PM2022-11-29T18:11:44+5:302022-11-29T18:11:44+5:30
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With the rising prices of diesel, the existence of electric tractors is the only way to cut costs and increase productivity in the field. Marut E-Tract 3.0 is one of the messiahs for Indian farmers.
Taking inspiration from the electric rickshaws plying on the roads, a Gujarat farmer has built one such electric tractor. This electric tractor has been named Marut E Tract 3.0. This is the first electric vehicle from the Ahmedabad-based company in Gujarat.
It took Nikunj Kishore Korat, director of Marut E Agrotech informed 4 years to prepare the e tractor. Nikunj says that 5 years ago, when he saw electric rickshaws plying on the streets of Delhi, he got the idea of using electric motors and batteries in agricultural equipment.
This tractor is certified by International Centre for Automotive Technology (iCAT). As per the entrepreneur, the market price of this tractor will be INR 5.5 lakh. To commercialize this mini electric tractor in the market Nikunj seeks funds from investor support and also from FAME subsidy.
Marut E-Tract 3.0 developer, Nikunj stated in an interview, “In Delhi, there was a wave of electric rickshaw launches four years ago. That got me thinking if on-road vehicles can go electric, why can't we think about going electric in farming.”
He further stated, “The Marut E-Tract 3.0 has a duty range of 6 to 8 hours on a single charge. Nikunj claims that it can be fully charged in 4 hours. In terms of application, the Marut-E Tract can perform all of the tasks that a small diesel tractor can."
The market price of E-Tract 3.0 is set at INR 5.5 lakh. With this price range, the first hurdle in the way of Nikunj appears. To develop his electric tractor Nikunj has enough farmer’s suggestions, but it is quite difficult to have them pay this much amount because the cost of a small diesel tractor is only INR 2.5 lakhs.
The entrepreneur claims that while the purchase price will be higher, the operating and maintenance costs for the electric tractor over 15,000 hours of operation will be one-tenth of that of an equivalent diesel tractor.
The engineer-entrepreneur demands the Indian Government to cover tractors too in its FAME scheme.
Nikunj stated, “If the FAME scheme is extended to tractors, including the Marut E-Tract 3.0, the tractor will receive a subsidy of around INR 1.5 lakhs. Because the government provides more subsidies to the agricultural sector, electric tractors should be eligible for larger subsidies than other EV segments.”
The Marut E-Tract uses an 11kWh battery pack with regenerative braking system, its electric motor gives a power output of 3KW. The only controller in this tractor is from an American company. Apart from this all other parts are made-in-India.
