Machinery maker Sany Heavy Industry Co. said it plans to build a $60 million factory in India, one of the largest Chinese investments in the country so far.

Sany's Indian unit has signed a memorandum of understanding for the plant with the industrial development corporation of the state of Maharashtra, where India's commercial capital of Mumbai is located, the Chinese company said.

The project will create Sany's first overseas manufacturing facility and take about five years to complete. Heavy construction machinery made by the plant will be sold in India and the region.

Privately owned Sany is also proceeding with a plan to build a plant in the United States, which could make it the first Chinese machinery maker to assemble equipment in a developed country, company executives said.