M&M seeks govt support for truck unit in Andhra

Arun Mahindra, executive director of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M), met chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today to seek the government's support for the infrastructural requirements for their proposed unit to manufacture trucks and buses in the state.

Apart from a couple of locations in other states, Zahirabad in Andhra Pradesh is on the company radar to set up its new plant. At Zahirabad, M&M has a manufacturing plant that produces tractors and semi-utility vehicles (SUVs).

According to highly placed sources, the company is expected to make the announcement on the project location within a week or two. Sources close to the development said that chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy, while promising to provide all the necessary support, suggested to the company representative to go ahead with the announcement in favour of the state.

"Leave all that to me, and make the announcement in our favour," was said to be the parting remark of the chief minister during the 15-minute meeting.

The state had missed the bus by not acting in time on the requests of M&M for water supply when it came forward to locate Logan car unit at Zahirabad.

This time around, the same water issue, apart from the request for four-laning of the Hyderabad-Zahirabad road, is said to have come up for discussion during Arun's meeting with the chief minister. The company delegation sought a letter from the Andhra Pradesh government to this effect, the sources said.

M&M delegation also visited a couple of other places, including the one at the new international airport for the purpose.