On an Indian farm at dawn, the day’s biggest expense is the one that never changes — diesel. A litre here, a litre there, plus a driver who gets harder to find every season. In Thane, near Mumbai, a startup spent nearly a decade engineering a machine that sidesteps both problems at once. AutoNxt Automation builds electric tractors that can drive themselves — the company’s 30hp Hulk was designed from the ground up as India’s first electric tractor with self-driving options.
Image: AutoNxt (official company image) — the X45H2 electric tractor hauling a sugarcane trailer at Jaywant Sugar Mill.
Rs 12–44 an hour: the electric economics
The numbers are the story. A conventional diesel tractor costs Rs 250–400 an hour to run, while an AutoNxt electric tractor draws Rs 12–44 of electricity for the same hour of work, according to the company. Over a typical year, the company says farmers save Rs 1.5 to Rs 2.5 lakh in fuel and drivetrain maintenance — up to 80 per cent less to run than diesel. The instant torque of the electric motor gives it superior hauling grunt: at Jaywant Sugar Mill, the company’s X45H2 tractor hauled a 25-tonne sugarcane payload, and the company puts the operational saving at Rs 40 per kilometre.
Self-driving, by design
AutoNxt’s autonomy runs on the company’s own stack — NEXT-OS for fleet telematics, auto-path planning, obstacle detection and smart implement control. The Hulk is a Level 2 autonomous machine: the farmer first drives the field boundary so the tractor learns the map, then defines the path and function from a phone or tablet and lets the machine plough, till, disk or spray on its own. Safety is engineered in from the start — a kill switch on the tractor and in the app, remote control limited to a specified range, and autonomy that cannot be engaged on public roads. Watch the machine at work in the company’s official haulage video, which shows the X45H2 performing haulage, tilling and reaper operations in real farm conditions.
A tractor for every job
The production lineup spans the X45C2, a 45HP-equivalent tractor for medium-to-heavy commercial farming, the X45H2 for heavy-duty tilling and industrial hauling — the company says it pulls up to 10 tons — and the H55C2, a 55HP-equivalent machine for the heaviest work. The electronics are IP67-rated for Indian monsoons, the LFP battery packs carry a six-year warranty, and in a tug-of-war the company filmed, its 45HP electric tractor out-pulled a 47HP diesel. The company says more than 270 orders are already placed across eight industries, with customers including BAIF Development Research, Noida International Airport, Jaywant Sugars, Reliance New Energy and Thermax.
A Thane origin story
AutoNxt was founded in 2016 by electronics engineer Kaustubh Dhonde, who watched his own relatives give up farming as operating costs climbed and skilled drivers disappeared. That frustration became a decade-long engineering programme — and serious investors are now backing the result. In 2026 the company closed a pre-Series A round led by Saama, with Amit Singhal, the former head of Google’s search division, among the backers. From farms to factories, AutoNxt is building autonomous electric tractors for Indian fields — and for the world market beyond.
