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While Maruti Suzuki India announced last week that it might miss the commissioning target of 2015-16 for its Gujarat plant owing to slowdown in the automobile market, the company's vendors have nonetheless started scouting for land in the vicinity of Hansalpur near Mehsana.
NK Minda Group, a leading supplier to Maruti Suzuki has applied for 20 acres of land in the area. A company spokesperson informed, " As of now we have plans for lighting, alloy wheels and four-wheeler switches which will be catered by our companies; Minda Industries Ltd- Lighting Division, Kosei Minda Aluminium Co. Ltd and Mindarika Pvt Ltd respectively. We are planning investment of around ' 250 crore by 2017-18."
He also added that Minda Group would be aligning its start of production with Maruti Suzuki India.
The ' 2,500 crore N K Minda Group is headquartered in Manesar, Haryana which operates 34 plants across India and employs 7,000 people. It makes a wide range of automotive components like two-wheeler switches, automotive lamps, electronic components, automotive horns, automotive batteries, blow molding components, alloy wheels, die-casting components, alternate fuel systems, seat belts, automatic gear shifters, air-filtration systems, steering wheels with airbags, body sealing and fuel caps, air brakes and clutch actuation systems among others.
Maruti Suzuki has been allotted around 700 acres of land at Hansalpur, around 30 km from Mehsana by the Gujarat government. On its part, the company has also bought around 700 acres at a nearby location, Vithlapur, directly from farmers for future expansion.
When asked about vendors coming to Gujarat, R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said, "Our vendors would definitely come up in the area. They will start work depending on when we decide to start work on the Gujarat plant." A company official also said that leading vendors like Krishna Maruti Ltd and JBM are likely to set up their manufacturing units in Gujarat.
After Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan in last July, Maruti Suzuki had indicated earlier last year that several of the Hamamatsu-based auto-ancillaries have also shown great interest in Gujarat. Modi had met Suzuki Corporation chief Osamu Suzuki in Hamamatsu in 2012, and had also addressed an investment meet there which was attended by 430 representatives of the automobile industry.
The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) is acquiring land in the nearby villages to set up an industrial estate, and has so far acquired around 100 hectares.
Meanwhile, locals informed that few more vendors and service providers are also scouting for land in the area. "Around 13 farmers have recently sold land to Jay Auto Components Ltd and IRC (India) Ltd," informed Amarsinh Thakor, a resident of Sitapur, a neighbourhood village in the vicinity of the Maruti Suzuki plant. Thakor further claimed that so far around 30 bighas of land has been sold and farmers have fetched a price of ' 20 lakh per bigha.
A senior official of Jay Auto Components confirmed that they indeed are looking to set up a manufacturing plant in the area, but did not wish to divulge further details about the project. Jay Auto Components, a JPM Group company promoted by J P Minda, and led by his two sons Anil Minda and Ashwani Minda, is into injection moulding, laser marking, electroplating on plastics etc. IRC (India) Ltd, a logistics service provider which works on the principles of just-in-time delivery of parts and components for production with bare minimum inventory, also works with Maruti Suzuki India. The company, however, could not be reached for a comment.
