New plant to cater for exports

Japan’s Suzuki Motor will invest fresh US$600 million (Rs.3,900 crore) in a new plant at Hansalpur, Gujarat, with a capacity of 2.5 lakh units for the Indian market and exports.

It will increase investments in the state to over US$2.1 billion (Rs.13,400 crore) as it moves to boost annual manufacturing capacity in Gujarat to 7.5 lakh units within the next couple of years.

While production has already started from plant A, which has a capacity for 2.5 lakh units annually and is used for manufacturing Baleno, work on a similar capacity plant (B) is already in progress with production target set for 2019.

Plant C will follow thereafter, said Suzuki, already an established auto manufacturing in India over the past 35 years.

Additionally, it is setting up a combustion engine plant at the facility for 5 lakh units.

Suzuki will set up a lithium-ion battery factory that will charge electric, hybrid and other vehicles from the company’s stable.

Denso, a Toyota company, will provide the technology, while Toshiba will chip in with cell modules, said the Japanese industrial groups.

The three companies will make combined investment of US$180 million (Rs. 1,151 crore) for the plant to be operational by 2020.

“For the last 35 years, we have been working towards ‘Make in India’ with you all,” Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki said at a business leaders’ meet in Gujarat in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe on 14 September 2017. fii-news.com