US-based Allison Transmission Inc on Thursday inaugurated its $60-million (Rs 264 crore) manufacturing and assembly facility at Oragadam, near here. The unit will make automatic transmission components for commercial vehicle industry.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the facility, Allison Transmission chairman and chief executive officer, Lawrence E Dewey, said the plant would cater to domestic market where demand for the company’s fully automatic transmission was steadily growing.
The plant is spread over 28 acres in the Sipcot Industrial Park. Dewey said the factory was a cost-effective way to source components for its plants in other parts of the world as well as meet the future demand from neighbouring countries. The company has manufacturing and customisation facilities in North America, Hungary, Netherlands, Brazil, China and Japan.
The city transit bus and off-highway construction vehicles were rapidly growing in India, he said and added this was a huge opportunity for the company. “In addition we are seeing increasing interest from Indian OEMs for additional on and off highway vehicle applications from Allison Transmissions.”
The Oragadam facility will employ around 300 people once fully operational. Ram Amarnath, managing director, Allison India Pvt Ltd, said the company intended to “expand into the medium- and heavy-duty truck segments.”
He added the company’s growth in India had been propelled by fitting automatics into low-floor CNG and diesel buses in Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur and other Indian cities.