Public Service Micro Finance Company (PSMFC) says it has made unprecedented progress in financing for tractors to equip civil servants as directed by President Edgar Lungu in 2016.

“More than 120 tractors and other farming implements have been given out to civil servants in order to mechanise their agricultural activities through the Agriculture Mechanization Scheme,” Company Chief Executive Officer Mubanga Mwiko said.

Mr. Mwiko said he was therefore, happy that India’s Sonalika International, a world class tractor manufacturing/assembling company, had addressed the pricing model which would see civil servants under the scheme buy tractors cheaply.

“PSMFC is 100% owned by Government with a clientele of 200, 000 public service employees with a US$50 Million asset base and a zero debt equit ratio,” he said.

Mr. Mwiko was speaking in Punjab, India, when a Zambian delegation led by Zambia’s High Commissioner to India Judith Kapijimpanga toured the tractor manufacturing/assembly plant.

“I am happy with Sonalika for agreeing to open up agencies in all 10 Provinces in Zambia as opposed to only Lusaka and Copperbelt,” he said.

Mr. Mwiko was also happy with the directive by Sonalika Managing Director Deepak Mittal to his team that PSMFC and Sonalika sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Meanwhile, Sonalika International said it had addressed the pricing model of tractors for civil servants under PSMFC for them to be affordable.

“The company will also sponsor two Zambians from rural areas to study agriculture engineering in India as part of our corporate social responsibility,” Sonalika International Vice Chairman Amrit Sagar Mittal said.

Mr. Mittal said the company which manufactured/ assembled 500 tractors per day, had a US$1 Billion annual turnover and was a debt free corporate incorporated since 1969.

And Zambia’s High Commissioner to India Judith Kapijimpanga urged Sonalika International to set up a tractor manufacturing/ assembling plant in Zambia.

“Zambia is ripe for investment as it has good policies and is centrally located with access to eight neighbouring countries,” she said.

Mrs. Kapijimpanga further called on the tractor manufacturing/assembling company to take part in the Central Province Investment Expo in October and the Northern Province Investment Expo in December this year.

This was contained in a statement made available by First Secretary Press and Tourism at the Zambian Mission in New Delhi, India, Bangwe Naviley.