The story
Tiruchengode's mechanics first built and repaired ox-carts and then lorry bodies. When dry-land farmers across South India began drilling deep borewells, local workshops learned to mount drilling rigs and compressors on lorries. Rig owners from the town now take their machines to drill wells across India and abroad. The cluster combines rig assembly, fabrication and a large community of rig operators.
In numbers
An academic study describes Tiruchengode as an industrial district specialising in lorry body building and borewell rig assembly, with a local maker's rigs exported throughout Africa.
From Ox-Carts to Borewell Rigs: Maintenance, Manufacture and Innovation in Tiruchengode — HAL
Ways in for a newcomer
- Fabrication of rig masts, platforms and tool boxes
- Drill-bit, hammer and rod trading
- Borewell drilling and groundwater survey services
- Rig maintenance and compressor overhaul
Problems the cluster faces
- Groundwater over-extraction rules and drilling bans in some areas
- High diesel costs
- Long travel for rig crews
- Credit-heavy purchase of rigs
Businesses to start here
Precision Sheet Metal Fabrication (Job Shop) →Engineering Workshop (Job Work and Repairs) →Hand Pump Manufacturing →