Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has been allotted 700 acres in IMT Rohtak for setting up a research and development (R&D) facility, test course and accommodation of ancillaries. The state government has already approved allotment of 700 acres; 600 acres for setting up R&D facility and test course and 100 acres for leasing out to MSIL ancillaries.
Rajeev Arora, managing director, HSIIDC maintained the outfit will not only be the R&D hub for the entire Asian market but would also be the largest facility of Suzuki Motor Corporation outside Japan. This MSIL initiative is likely to make Haryana the base for product engineering and development for group activities besides catalyzing investment of about Rs 1,000 crore in the region.
The basic objective of the R&D facility is to provide for full vehicle development and designing of vehicles to suit the specific needs of the Indian customer and component durability testing and performance evaluation. It would have a collision test area, emission labs, wind tunnel testing facility, etc. The test course would provide for high-speed evaluation and will also be used for conducting acceleration tests. It would be equipped with skid pads and bend roads for steering and suspension evaluation.