Ford India Pvt. Ltd, the local unit of Michigan-based Ford Motor Co., has chosen Gujarat over Maharashtra for setting up its second manufacturing plant in the country.
The US auto maker is being allotted 400 acres of land at Sanand, close to Tata Motors Ltd's Nano factory, about 40km from Ahmedabad, according to a senior government official dealing directly with the project.
Another 100 acres will be acquired by Ford at a later stage for setting up an ancillary park.
A formal announcement will be made by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi along with top Ford officials on Thursday in the state capital Gandhina- gar, the official said.
Mint had earlier reported in June that Ford was exploring the possibility of setting up its new manufacturing plant at either Sanand in Gujarat or Chakan in Maharashtra .
“Ford decided on Gujarat more than a month ago. How- ever, things were being worked out about the incentives to be offered”, said a second government official familiar with the development.
As a concession, the company is likely to be offered the land at lower-than-market rates, he added.
Ford plans to launch eight new models by 2015 from its global portfolio in India and the new plant will help the company meet local demand as well as export cars to the Asia-Pacif- ic and Africa, said a Ford official, when asked about the development.
“As part of its plan to intro- duce eight new products by the middle of the decade, Ford is significantly expanding its capacities in its existing facility in Tamil Nadu as well as exploring other options to meet the grow- ing demand of consumers in India and export markets across the world,“ the Ford official said.
The plant, to be set up with a proposed investment of about `5,000 crore, will have an initial production capacity of 300,000 units annually, which will be scaled up gradually.
The company has already in- vested $500 million to expand production capacity to 200,000 units annually from around 100,000 at its Chennai facility.
It also has an engine manufacturing plant in Chennai with an installed annual production capacity of 250,000 units.
It also has an engine manufacturing plant in Chennai with an installed annual production capacity of 250,000 units.
The development will boost the efforts of the Modi government to project Sanand as an auto and engineering hub, especially after Tata Motors shift- ed its Nano project from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand in 2008.
Earlier last month, top officials from Maruti Suzuki India Ltd announced that the com- pany was considering Gujarat for a `6,000 crore plant and that Sanand was one of the three locations being examined. The firm, however, is keen on setting up a plant in north Gujarat , about 80km from Ahmedabad, said the government official cited above.
Talks with French car maker Peugeot are also at an advanced stage and the state government is working on the incentives to be offered to the company, state officials said.
Central government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has also submitted a proposal to invest `4,000 crore in a factory at Sanand and talks are on with the state government.
(Source -: mintlive.com)
