With a variety of new model launches on the anvil over the next two years, General Motors India (GMI) has said that it is investing additional Rs 400-600 crore at its Talegaon car and engine manufacturing facility.
The fresh investment will gear up the plant so that it can also produce sedans, while almost doubling both the car and engine plant capacities to three lakh units a year.
“Out total investment at Talegaon will go up to over Rs 2,200 crore after we invest the remaining amount within the next two years. The fresh investment is for new product programmes and addition of fresh manufacturing capacity in line with the market demand,” Mr P. Balendran, Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, GMI, told
The US-based carmaker has already put in Rs 1,800 crore in the Talegaon facility, which currently has the capacity to make 1.4 lakh cars and 1.6 lakh petrol and diesel engines a year. At present, this plant only manufactures small cars such as the Chevrolet Beat and Spark.
Global hub
This is GMI's second plant after Halol, which currently has a capacity to make 85,000 cars a year, is now being converted into global manufacturing hub for light commercial vehicles (LCVs). Annual capacity at Halol is also set to go up to over one lakh units through an on going investment of around Rs 700 crore.
GMI, in which Chinese auto major Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has a 50 per cent stake, aims to launch six new models with a variety of fuel options over the next two years. While two of these will be LCVs - a van and a flat-bed pick-up, developed in collaboration with SAIC, the other products planned are two mid-size sedans, an SUV and a small car developed by the its India technical centre.
roudra.b@thehindu.co.in