Maruti’s Gujarat plant to wait till October for approval

Maruti Suzuki India will take the decision about the upcoming plant in Gujarat by October. The decision came after Suzuki Motors’s Chairman Osamu Suzuki met Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to discuss about the site for the Maruti plant.

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Suzuki Motor’s board will approve the third plant to be set up at an investment of Rs 18,000 crore. RC Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki informed that this was the first meeting between Modi and Suzuki and the meeting was very cordial and positive. The CM has assured full co-operation to Maruti Suzuki India . However, he said Suzuki would take a few more days to garner more information on the land and the likely risks involved in this 1,000 acre site. The company will think whether to apply for land or not once the board approves.

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The annual capacity of this new Maruti plant would be two million units by 2015. Maruti Suzuki  India plans to facilitate exports through Mundra port on the coast of  Gujarat, where it has put in place the infrastructure for making it the export hub for the company. Gujarat has so far attracted a total investment of Rs 26,000 crore by automakers. After Tata’s Nano plant and Ford India, PSA Peugeot-Citroen have already committed to set up a facility in Sanand with Gujarat government. Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp may build its fifth plant in Gujarat after Maruti plant.

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Meanwhile, a Maruti Suzuki spokesman said the company rolled out 90 units of Swift from its Gurgaon plant, in addition to 250 Swift cars produced at Manesar. As the company is facing a shortage of manpower at Manesar plant these days, it is transporting auti parts to Gurgaon facility where assemble operations are done to roll out Swift. The decision has raised the overall volume of Swift models which is witnessing a backlog in market and dealers have stopped taking new bookings now.