UTE celebrates 65 years of contribution towards infrastructure development

Sri Lanka’s oldest player in the heavy machinery category and the sole authorised dealer of world famous Caterpillar machinery, United Tractor and Equipment Pvt Ltd. (UTE) celebrates its 65th anniversary in March.

For many decades UTE has been a pioneer in providing engineering solutions in Sri Lanka. UTE offers services to all industries such as construction, power generation, material handling, industrial storage and welding. The unmatched quality and reliability of UTE product support services has made UTE the first choice for engineers in many top companies in Sri Lanka.

UTE has been the sole authorised dealer for Caterpillar for six decades. UTE together with Caterpillar has been a trusted partner in development initiatives of Sri Lanka. Caterpillar generators are currently running at critical facilities such as the national hospitals, telecommunication hubs and the Colombo Stock Exchange ensuring uninterrupted operations. Many of the top hotels in the country are powered by Caterpillar generators.

In addition, UTE has also supplied racking solutions and warehouse trucks to many of the largest warehouses in the country. UTE is also a leader in providing innovative and technically advanced solutions to the industrial welding sector.  

Reflecting on their six decades of service to the nation, UTE Chairman and CEO Priath Fernando said, “From the historic Gal-Oya project to the accelerated Mahaweli development project to the recently completed Southern Expressway, UTE and Caterpillar have been a key supplier of construction machinery.”

According to Fernando UTE has an essential supporting role to play in ensuring that post-war Sri Lanka is propelled into a new era of infrastructure development. Confirming this he further stated, “During this anniversary year UTE will engage in providing and supporting Caterpillar Machines for Southern and Colombo harbor development projects, Outer Circular Highway construction, Uma Oya project, extension of the Southern Expressway and the Jaffna A9 road construction project.”

“UTE has longstanding major local contractors as their private sector clients such as Maga Engineering, CML-MTD, Access Engineering and ICC, while it has also been a key supplier to many foreign contractors and Government sector organisations.

For example UTE has supplied Caterpillar Marine Engines to foreign boat builders and has handled a number of locomotive repowering projects converting the engines to Caterpillar, for the Sri Lanka Railway over the years  saving valuable foreign exchange for the country while utilising local engineering expertise for the benefit of masses,” said UTE Manager-Marketing Services Nalin Manoratne. According to Manoratne,  UTE’s main strength throughout these many decades lies in its superior product support service as denoted in the tag line ‘The journey continues long after the sale’.

“UTE has proven time and time again that it stands by its ethos. Many CAT machines and engines are still in service after more than 40 years, a testament to the quality of the Company’s offerings,” said Manoratne.

UTE’s main supplier, Caterpillar (CAT), is in the top 100 brands listed in Fortune magazine and among only a handful of B2B brands on the list. CAT has a unique relationship with its partners and the UTE logo, which is a combination of UTE and CAT stands witness to this. The CAT dealer is considered an extension of Caterpillar, and UTE continues to live up to the high expectations demanded of it by Caterpillar customers.