Volkswagen team in Hyderabad

A four-member team led by Patrick Meyer, Volkswagen's head of finance, is on a visit to Hyderabad to discuss about the issues pertaining to the German automobile major's proposed car manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh.

The team, which arrived here on Thursday, held discussions with the state Industries department officials till late in the evening.

State principal secretary for industries, Lakshmi Parthasarathy, said that the discussions have been "fruitful, we will continue the talks tomorrow".

Prior to the meeting, Lakshmi Parthasarathy said that she was confident and hopeful that Volkswagen would set up its unit in Andhra Pradesh.

Though the state government was keen to ensure that the German company established its manufacturing facility near Visakhapatnam, the automobile giant was also stated to be considering a shift in the location to Tada on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border due to its proximity to Chennai.

On Volkswagen's invitation, Andhra Pradesh commissioner of Industries, Suthirtha Bhattacharya, and executive director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Ram Gopal, had planned to visit Germany for discussions in the last week of September. However, they could not make the trip as they were posted as observers for the Bihar Assembly elections.