Chennai, Aug 20 (IANS): Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M), part of the $16.5 billion Mahindra group, will export its new tractor Arjun NOVO in the next six months, said a senior official Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a launch function held near here, Pawan Goenka, executive director said the company is looking at export markets for its new high horse power (HP) tractor.

The company currently ships out its existing Arjun model to Africa, South Asia and the US markets.

The M&M has invested around Rs.300 crore for developing the new model which is available in two variants 57 HP and 52 HP. The company plans more variants of the tractor.

According to officials, the new model will be rolled out of its Nagpur factory.

The new tractor was developed at the Mahindra Research Valley located here.

According to M&M, the new model was developed through extensive research and insighting conducted with over 100 farmers across 10 states to understand the mechanisation needs of farmers.

The development of Mahindra's new Arjun Novo involved a seeding phase in which a total of 73 tractors were tested based on their performance in 40 applications, across 8 states for a cumulative 70,000 hours.

The tractor industry is moving towards high HP vehicles.

The company also had plans to set up a tractor facility in Tamil Nadu. However, the project has not taken off.