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Godrej Khalapur Facility: Building Future-ready Material Handling Equipment
Articles- Aug 29,26
Godrej Enterprises Group’s new Industry 4.0-enabled Material Handling Equipment (MHE) facility at Khalapur combines automation, digital manufacturing, smart quality systems and sustainable processes to strengthen indigenous manufacturing, writes Rakesh Rao.
Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) has commenced operations at its advanced Material Handling Equipment (MHE) manufacturing facility at Khalapur, Maharashtra, strengthening its indigenous manufacturing capabilities at a time when India’s logistics, warehousing and supply-chain ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Located within the 360-acre Naoroji Godrej Industrial Park, the new facility has been developed as an Industry 4.0-enabled manufacturing hub serving sectors ranging from manufacturing, automotive and engineering to e-commerce, quick commerce, pharmaceuticals and warehousing.
The facility has an annual production capacity of 6,000 units, scalable to 15,000 units as demand grows. Its proximity to Nhava Sheva Port and the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport also strengthens its ability to serve domestic and export markets. The plant manufactures a wide portfolio of material handling solutions, including articulated trucks, a segment in which Godrej is the only Indian manufacturer. Godrej MHE products are currently exported to more than 40 countries.
The Khalapur investment builds on a manufacturing journey spanning more than six decades. Godrej Enterprises Group’s Material Handling Equipment business was established in 1963 with the recognition that logistics and intralogistics would become increasingly important to India’s industrial economy. Over the years, the business has introduced technologies ranging from automatic transmission forklifts and electric trucks to advanced AC motor systems and a broader portfolio covering forklifts, stackers, power pallet trucks, reach trucks, articulated trucks and automation solutions.
Its capabilities have also expanded beyond conventional material handling equipment into racking and warehouse automation solutions, including automated storage and retrieval systems, conveyors and automated storage technologies. “Our philosophy has always been to anticipate future requirements and invest ahead of market demand,” says Anil Lingayat, Business Head – Material Handling Equipment (MHE) Business, Godrej Enterprises Group. That philosophy is reflected strongly in the Khalapur plant, where automation, digitalisation, scalability and sustainability have been incorporated into the manufacturing architecture from the outset.
Creating an Industry 4.0 ecosystem
Located around 70 km from Mumbai, 55 km from Nhava Sheva Port and 45 km from Navi Mumbai Airport, the Khalapur facility occupies the K5 South Block of the industrial park. Its current manufacturing footprint is approximately 1.7 lakh sq ft, with another 34,000 sq ft under construction and about 2 lakh sq ft reserved for future expansion.
More important than its physical scale, however, is the manufacturing philosophy behind the plant. The facility has been designed around Industry 4.0 principles, integrating automation, connected manufacturing systems and digital tools across fabrication, painting, assembly, quality, testing and warehousing.
Rather than implementing automation as a collection of isolated upgrades, the facility brings production, quality control and traceability together within a digitally connected ecosystem. This enables the company to improve consistency and productivity while creating the foundation for future capacity expansion. “The unique aspect of this facility is that while the footprint has remained similar, we have increased capacity almost five times,” says Lingayat.
Scalability has consequently been incorporated into critical infrastructure. Equipment and production systems, particularly the paint shop, have been designed so that capacity can be increased with relatively limited modifications as market demand rises.
Automation driving productivity
Automation is deployed extensively across welding, painting, assembly, testing and internal material movement. Robotic welding cells undertake chassis welding for electric forklifts and articulated trucks, improving process consistency while reducing reliance on repetitive manual operations. On the forklift production line, automated sub-assembly and final welding processes support production capacity of up to 200 trucks per month.
Automation has also strengthened Godrej’s articulated truck manufacturing capability. Output has improved from less than one chassis per day to two, with scope for further increases as production scales.
One of the most technology-intensive sections is the automated paint shop. Extending across much of the factory length, the paint line uses robotic application technology to improve coating consistency and material utilisation. The facility employs lead-free paints and dry filtration technology, reducing dependence on water-intensive treatment processes. The paint shop currently has the capacity to support around 500 forklifts per month and can be expanded to approximately 1,200 units with minimal modification.
“We have automated and digitised several processes, including test rigs, robotic painting, laser cutting and welding systems, which improve efficiency, quality and productivity,” says Lingayat.
The approach is not intended simply to replace manual work. Instead, the company is seeking to deploy manpower in activities where human skills can deliver greater value. “The objective is to use manpower for higher-value activities rather than repetitive physical tasks,” says Lingayat.
Digitisation and automation are also helping reduce manual handling of heavy components, improve workplace safety and streamline manufacturing flows.
Digitising the assembly line
Assembly operations demonstrate how digital tools are being integrated into everyday manufacturing. Digital work instructions guide operators through production processes, while pick-to-light systems help ensure the correct components are selected. Adjustable hydraulic platforms improve ergonomics, and digitally monitored torque systems provide control and traceability during critical fastening operations.
Together, these technologies support more consistent manufacturing and enable complete production traceability. The current assembly cycle of approximately three to four hours per truck is targeted to be brought below two hours as processes are further optimised.
This emphasis on digital traceability extends into quality assurance. Every truck manufactured at Khalapur undergoes validation through dedicated power, brake and dynamics test rigs. Test results are captured digitally, creating an auditable quality trail for each machine. Additional testing systems include digital lift testing for mast sway and drift as well as UV-based leak detection.
Developing future technologies
The plant’s warehouse operations have similarly been designed around space efficiency and structured inventory management. Spread across approximately 50,000 sq ft, the warehouse incorporates racks up to 11 metres high, around 3,000 pallet positions and manages close to 1,800 SKUs every day.
A vertical lift module provides another example of how technology is being used to improve space utilisation. The system allows storage that would conventionally require around 5,000 sq ft to be accommodated within approximately 600 sq ft, helping the facility optimise inventory density while improving material accessibility.
The Khalapur plant forms part of a broader technology-development strategy within Godrej MHE. The company has around 50 engineers involved in design and research activities, with nearly 20 per cent focused specifically on future technologies such as electric motors, controllers and battery systems.
Instead of developing every technology entirely in-house, Godrej follows a partnership-led approach, working with technology providers, validating solutions and subsequently introducing them into commercial applications.
Battery technology is one such area. Godrej offers lead-acid, lithium-ion and multi-ion solutions depending on the customer application. It has also commercially introduced multi-ion technology, which offers potential sustainability advantages because sodium-based materials can be easier to extract than lithium. The company’s Battery Management System (BMS) is indigenous, while battery development is undertaken through technology partnerships.
This technology strategy reflects the larger transformation taking place across material handling, as electrification, warehouse automation and digital operations increasingly influence equipment design and customer requirements.
Sustainability built into operations
Sustainability has been integrated into the facility through initiatives addressing water consumption, energy efficiency and material waste. One of the most significant measures is the use of dry paint booths. By eliminating conventional water-based filtration in the painting process, the technology can save up to 50,000 litres of water per day.
Energy optimisation has also been incorporated into the paint operation. The facility maintains paint-oven heat loss below 5 per cent, uses pretreatment chemicals that operate at ambient temperature and has reduced certain equipment operating times from around two hours to 30 minutes. These measures have resulted in approximately 75 per cent lower fuel consumption in the relevant processes.
Robotic painting is also improving material efficiency. The facility data indicates paint consumption can be reduced by around 30 per cent per truck through robotic application.
Lingayat describes sustainability as an ongoing process. “Our paint shop uses dry processes, helping us save significant water consumption. We have also introduced robotic painting, which reduces paint wastage by around 50–60 per cent,” he says.
Laser-cutting systems further help optimise raw-material utilisation and reduce scrap, while a significant portion of the plant’s power requirement is sourced through solar energy. The facility’s sustainability focus also aligns with the wider group’s environmental initiatives. Godrej Enterprises Group has recently received the EcoVadis Gold Medal, placing it among the top 5 per cent of companies assessed globally for sustainability performance.
Building capacity for tomorrow
The Khalapur facility represents an investment of approximately Rs 350 crore and has been developed with sufficient capacity headroom to support growth over the next four to five years. Future capital deployment is expected to focus largely on incremental capacity additions and process improvements.
According to Lingayat, its capabilities are already close to international manufacturing standards. “I have visited manufacturing plants across several countries, and I believe this facility is very close to the top level globally in terms of testing, painting, fabrication and digitisation capabilities.”
The current capacity of 6,000 units annually can be increased to 15,000 units, while infrastructure being developed at the Khalapur campus could eventually support production levels approaching 30,000 units.
The plant is therefore not simply an expansion of manufacturing capacity. It is intended to serve as a platform on which Godrej MHE can progressively introduce new technologies, increase production and address changing requirements in material movement and intralogistics.
As India seeks to strengthen domestic manufacturing and improve the efficiency of its logistics networks, facilities such as Khalapur illustrate how industrial capacity can evolve through the combination of indigenous engineering, automation, digitally connected operations and sustainable production practices.
For Godrej MHE, the facility represents the next stage of a journey that began in 1963 at Vikhroli (Mumbai): moving from introducing material handling technologies in India to developing them locally and building manufacturing capabilities designed to compete in global markets.
Factory Metrics
- Robotic welding supports 200 forklifts monthly, doubling articulated-truck chassis output to two daily.
- Automated paint line handles 500 forklifts monthly, scalable to 1,200 units with minimal modifications.
- Smart assembly targets cycle-time reduction from 3–4 hours to under two hours per truck.
- Digitally monitored torque and testing systems enable full traceability across critical assembly processes.
- Dry paint booths can save up to 50,000 litres of water daily.
- Robotic painting cuts paint consumption by approximately 30% per truck, improving material efficiency.
- Process optimisation reduced equipment operating time from two hours to 30 minutes, cutting fuel use 75%.
Godrej MHE
Khalapur facility
material handling equipment
Industry 4.0
smart manufacturing
automation
intralogistics
sustainable manufacturing
warehouse automation
indigenous manufacturing
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