Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) Chairman Osamu Suzuki today visited the site here where its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India plans to set up a new manufacturing unit at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.
Accompanied by Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R. C. Bhargava, company Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi and State Government officials, Suzuki inspected the 700-acre site besides meeting local people.
“He (Osamu Suzuki) took an idea of the land allotted to us by the State Government. The site and location of the plant is very good,” Bhargava told presspersons.
MSI is planning to set up a new plant that will have a capacity to roll out 2.5 lakh cars annually by 2015-16, besides setting up a skill development centre.
Bhargava said no ground-breaking ceremony for the plant, which is near Mehsana, could take place in next two-three months before infrastructure requirements are put in place.
When asked by what time a detailed report for the project would be prepared, Bhargava said: “That is the job of the engineers sitting in Japan. I cannot tell you anything about it now.”
Sounding upbeat about the location, he said: “The local people are also very good and welcoming. It is a great help for any company coming.”
Gujarat Industry Commissioner Kamal Dayani told PTI that MSI made a detailed presentation before the State Government yesterday about its infrastructure requirements for the project, to which the State Government has responded positively.
“This site is also part of a bigger planning. We have a concept of Special Investment Region (SIR). The master plan for development this site is in progress. Now, keeping in view MSI’s requirement, we will modify that SIR planning and we will be able to meet their infrastructure requirements in the next two-three years,” Dayani said.
He said MSI’s plant is part of a bigger manufacturing investment zone, comprising 44 villages.
Commenting on infrastructure requirement, Dayani said the State Government would take necessary steps, such as conversion of the metre-guage railway line between Kadi and Bharurachi into broad guage and setting up of power sub-stations to meet the requirements of the proposed plant.
“We had given a presentation on our action plan on how the Gujarat Government will meet this requirement in the next two-three years. They were pretty satisfied with the response. All the connectivity issues should be in place,” Dayani said.