Volvo Construction Equipment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Swedish commercial vehicle major AB Volvo, is exploring the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility in India. The company would manufacture select products in the proposed facility.

Lower labor costs, a good market and accessibility to steel and rubber vendors are key factors that attract the company to India.

Mrityunjaya Singh, vice president of construction equipment, Volvo India, confirmed the development, but said that the company had not prepared the blueprint for the proposed facility. Various state governments, including Karnataka, are pitching for the plant. The company has a truck plant in Bangalore in a 120-acre space, where half of the land is still unused. The company is also planning to start a training school in Bangalore for technicians and equipment operators.

“The school will impart formal training to Volvo construction equipment operators as part of its human resource grooming program. While the construction equipment market is growing steadily at 30 percent, human resource growth in the sector is only around 10 percent,” Singh said.

The first phase of the training school is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2007.