Harman, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co, Monday said it will invest Rs 350 crore to expand its automotive electronics manufacturing plant at Chakan near Pune in Maharashtra.
The plant manufactures highly sophisticated connected car solutions including automotive infotainment units for India's domestic and global automotive customers.
The phase II expansion will triple its production capacity by the year 2021.
"In the next three years, the production of Digital Cockpit Units (DCU) and Telematics Control Units (TCU) from the Chakan plant will increase from current 2,00,000 units to over 25,00,000 units annually - a steep 12-fold rise.
Harman will also double its factory headcount to about 800 employees in the same time period.
The total value of this investment is Rs 350 crore (USD 50 million)," it said.
Harman will install four new world-class SMT production/assembly lines, scaling from existing two to six lines, to meet the growing demands for innovative connected car solutions globally.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadvanis after inaugurating the second phase of the plant, said, "This is the first major manufacturing investment by a top global corporation, post-2019 general elections."
He said that the state welcomes Harman's new investment to boost manufacturing in the state.
"Over the last five years, our government has had a relentless focus on improving the ease of doing business. We are excited to see a large, global corporation like Harman taking advantage of our programmes and working towards empowering the skilled workforce in India," he said.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, who was also present at the event, said that they believe that the future of India's economy is dependent on the strength and nature of our large corporations.
Under our Prime Minister's governance, India is set on a high trajectory growth rate by undertaking a series of structural reforms across sectors, which will catalyze private sector investments and job creation. Harman's announcement today is taking a definitive step in the right direction, Kant said.
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