Toyota To Have 74 Per Cent Stake In Bangalore Venture

Toyota Motor Corp will apply to the Indian government in early August for joint vehicle production with the Kirloskar group, aiming to commence output in 1999, the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday. The joint venture, to be capitalised at about ¥20 billion, will be 74 per cent owned by Toyota and 26 per cent by its Indian partner, the paper said. The venture will have an assembly plant near Bangalore to produce multi-purpose diesel-engine vehicles, the paper added. A Toyota spokesman declined to comment on the report, adding that the company would not comment on the issue until it had a formal announcement to make. Toyota executive vice-president Akira Yokoi said in May that the company hoped to make an announcement about a joint venture in India with the Kirloskar group before starting its summer holidays in Japan on August 9.