Ahmedabad: It has been a year since automobile giant Maruti Suzuki India Limited (Maruti Suzuki) announced its plans to set up a second car manufacturing plant in Gujarat. However, the land acquisition for the facility is still to be completed, according to two sources familiar with the matter. State govt sources confirmed that they are yet to finalise a land parcel for the second car plant.
At the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), the parent company of Maruti Suzuki, announced a capital infusion of Rs 35,000 crore to set up its second car manufacturing plant in Gujarat. The plant is expected to have the capacity of manufacturing 1 million cars per annum.
Responding to TOI’s email query, Rahul Bharti, executive director (corporate affairs) at Maruti Suzuki, said, “We expressed interest in exploring a suitable piece of land for our next plant and requested the Gujarat govt. As of now, we have not received any proposal that meets our requirement.”
“While the company has been offered land parcels in Ahmedabad as well as Surendranagar districts, no concrete plans have been laid out so far,” a source told TOI.
“The company has laid out a requirement of at least 1,000-acre land parcel to set up the new car manufacturing plant because it will be among the automobile giant’s largest facilities in India. The company is still in the intermediary stage of discussions with the state govt for finalising the land, and a formal proposal is still awaited,” a state govt source told TOI.
As part of its plans to double its production capacity to 4 million (40 lakh) cars by 2030-31, Maruti Suzuki has announced its plans to launch its fifth car manufacturing plant. The auto giant already has a plant in Hansalpur, which manufactures 7.5 lakh cars per annum.
By far, SMC has cumulatively invested Rs 12,680 crore – one of the highest by an automobile giant in the state – in the establishment and upgradation of its Hansalpur plant.
The Suzuki Group will also invest Rs 3,200 crore in SMG to add a new post-production line which can produce 2.5 lakh units per year. .