Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp has announced fresh investments of around Rs 3,800 crore in its Gujarat plant and will be adding a third car production plant. The company along with its partners Toshiba and Denso will also invest around Rs 1,150 crore for a new manufacturing unit to produce lithium ion batteries. These fresh investments will enhance capacity of the Hansalpur plant and will take Suzuki’s total investment in the facility to around Rs 13,400 crore. The company has already invested Rs 9,600 crore on two plants along with another engine and transmission production unit. The Hansalpur-based plant is Suzuki Motor Corp’s first wholly-owned unit in India.

Suzuki Motor Corp fresh investments

Announcing the fresh investments, Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) Chairman Osamu Suzuki said the new investment on the third plant will increase the production capacity of the manufacturing plant by 2.5 lakh units annually. When the third plant starts functioning fully, the company’s total capacity in Gujarat will increase to 7.5 lakh units annually. Timelines to commission the third plant is still unknown. The first two plants also have capacity of 2.5 lakh units per annum, while the engine and transmission unit has a capacity to produce 5 lakh units a year.

The overall production capacity of SMC along with its Indian arm, Maruti Suzuki’s two plants in  Haryana will increase to 22.5 lakh units annually. Currently, the first plant at Hansalpur produces premium hatchback Baleno. The second plant along with the engine and transmission units is expected to go on stream in 2019. He said with the new investment, the company’s Hansalpur facility will will help in generating employment for 10,000 people, including suppliers.

Last week Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava had stated that SMC was also considering setting up a fourth production line of 2.5 lakh units at Hansalpur plant to take its total capacity to a million units. Suzuki said as part of strategy for adapting to new technologies, SMC along with its partners Toshiba and Denso will invest USD 180 million (around Rs 1,151 crore) to manufacture lithium ion batteries. The batteries will be used for “hybrid vehicles manufactured in India and export these genuinely manufactured in India vehicles to international market”, Suzuki said.

Make-in-India program

The plant isexpected to operational from 2020, he said adding, “We plan to continue with our efforts to promote make-in-India program further”. Last year, SMC had joined hands with Toshiba Corporation and Denso to set up a plant in India to produce lithium ion batteries.The three Japanese entities inked an agreement to form a joint venture to tap growing popularity for electric vehicles in India and supply lithium-ion battery packs in the country.