At its plant at Hansalpur near Mehsana in Gujarat, Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger car maker, would primarily focus on exports, owing to the facility’s proximity to the Mundra port. The company would also bring vendors with whom it has joint ventures to the site.
Talking at the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2013, M M Singh, chief operating officer (production), Maruti Suzuki India, said, “We are planning to focus on exports from the Gujarat plant, as its proximity to the Mundra port, where we have a dedicated terminal, would enable us to save Rs 5,000-6,000 a car. Also, we would be looking at serving the western Indian market, including Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the Gujarat unit, as this would result in a significant logistics benefit.”
The company is expected to start work at the facility from March and roll out the first car from there in 2015-16. The initial capacity of the plant would be about 2,50,000 units a year. Singh said, while Maruti would have an engine assembly line in Gujarat, it could bring engines from Manesar and carry out the machining and tooling jobs here.
Maruti Suzuki also plans to bring three or four vendors with whom it has joint ventures to the Hansalpur site; other vendors would have to set up facilities at the automobile parks the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation would develop in the region. Companies such as Jai Bharat Maruti Caparo Maruti and Futaba would be present at the Hansalpur site.