Mahindra enters Agricultural Equipment Rentals with TRRINGO

Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector which is part of the $16.9 Billion Mahindra Group has announced the launch of Trringo – India’s leading organized rental services platform for mechanized farm equipment. The company dedicated the platform to all all the farmers of the nation.

The Agricultural Equipment Rental Services sector in India has been clocking some serious growth in recent years. Estimates have pegged the turnover to be close to INR 15000 Crores every year. Farm mechanization penetration however, continues to be low and the sector is largely disorganized. Discrimination is rampant and access to equipment is largely dependent on the socio-economic status of the farmer.

Trringo’s physical-digital driven business model is the first-of-its-kind in the segment as well as the country. It aims to improve accessibility of farming equipment to farmers in two unique stages. Franchisees will be set up at the village level in the first stage. These will invest in tractors and other farming equipment, which will then be rented out. Farmers who are in need of equipment, can either call a toll-free number or use the dedicated app on their smartphone. Trringo acts as an enabler, using proprietary digital platform that’s been developed in conjunction with TechMahindra. Bookings will be routed to the nearest franchisee based on location based mapping services. Trringo also enables franchisees to act as contractors who will source tractors from owners in their vicinity & then rent them out to farmers in need.

The management at Trringo reiterated the fact that theirs would be a brand agnostic model. Though the focus will be on own-brand products, Trringo Franchisees will, on a case-to-case basis be able to source agricultural equipment, including tractors, from other brands as well. Thus, they will not be limited to Mahindra/Swaraj models alone.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said, “In our country where farm mechanization penetration is low, Mahindra would like to play a significant role in enabling our farmers to improve their productivity and Rise by providing accessible technology. The TRRINGO farm equipment rental business model will enable farmers to deploy mechanization technology on a pay per use basis without investing in the asset. This will increase their output and prosperity and lead to the inclusive growth of the nation”

The second stage of the business model envisions Trringo as a farmer-to-farmer initiative that looks to create a win-win situation for those on either side of the equipment divide. Driven largely through the dedicated app, Trringo will help large farmers with expensive, mechanized farming equipment in optimizing the utilization of their resource. On the other side, users will be able to access equipment as per their need on a pay-per-use basis.

Mahindra’s foray into the agricultural equipment rental services sector couldn’t have been timed better. Penetration levels are at 35% currently, thereby underlining the tremendous growth potential in the sector. Mr. Rajesh Jejurikar, President & Chief Executive Farm Equipment & Two Wheelers, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said: “TRRINGO will be an e-commerce startup which will provide the brand promise of equipment availability, commitment and performance, to transform lives of farmers, enabling them to Rise. We hope to ramp up this offering to five states this year.”

The Start-up venture is currently funded by Mahindra to the tune of INR 10 Crores. But Trringo will be open to outside funding at a later stage, sometime in the future, as the need arises. Operating on a fixed fee, variable margin model, Trringo will not allow surge-pricing on bookings. Officials also iterated that the rental rates on Trringo will be non-negotiable.

Trringo is targeting a total of 80 hubs in five key regions on a pan-India level. The first roll-out will happen in June, with four more States to follow by August. The States being targeted include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan.