Volkswagen Group India Tuesday launched its engine assembly plant which also includes a full-fledged engine testing facility at its factory in Chakan.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the facility which has come up with an investment of 30 million euro (Rs.240 crore).
"I am glad to see that the company is committed to their production operations in Chakan and is investing further for increasing manufacturing here even in difficult market situations," Fadnavis said while inaugurating the facility.
According to the company, the new engine assembly plant will create over 260 direct jobs.
"Significant additional employment will also be created at the production locations of Indian suppliers who will supply key parts and components," the company said in a statement.
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Volkswagen Group said that the state-of-the-art facility will have a capacity to assemble over 98,000 engines annually in three-shift system.
The 1.5L TDI engine will be produced for two different power levels of 90 PS and 105 PS peak power.
"The 1.5-litre TDI engine was specially developed for the Indian needs and is now being assembled locally too," said Mahesh Kodumudi, chief representative, Volkswagen Group India and president and managing director, Volkswagen India.
"With this step, we take an important step towards achieving our long term goal of increasing local content."
The company added that the latest investment in the Chakan plant takes its total investment to almost 710 million euro.
The manufacturing facility started operations in March 2009 and has rolled out over 450,000 cars for the Indian market as well as over 32 export markets across three continents.
Currently, the Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Vento and ?KODA Rapid are being manufactured here.
The Volkswagen Group India currently represents five passenger car brands in India including Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, ?KODA, and Volkswagen.
