Mahindra Plans To Acquire 42-pc Stake In Punjab Tractors

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the utility vehicle and tractor major, is looking at acquiring a 42% stake in Punjab Tractors Ltd. The company has made a non-binding bid to buy shares from private-equity fund Actis and the Burman family in Punjab Tractors. Actis holds about 28 per cent and the Burman family holds another 14 per cent in Punjab Tractors. The Burman family, which has a controlling stake in consumer goods company Dabur India Ltd, in November 2005 had bought a 11.2 per cent stake in Punjab Tractors for Rs 145 crore. Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra on February 7 rolled out the bio-diesel Scorpio and Bolero DI vehicles for usage trials. The Scorpio with indigenously developed CRDE technology is the first Asian vehicle in its class to run entirely on bio-diesel. M&M also unveiled a 5 per cent bio-diesel tractor along with the utility vehicles, another first in the country.