The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited had announced yesterday that it is going to invest a huge amount of money, close to Rs. 2600 crores for the setting up of a new diesel engine manufacturing facility at its Gurgaon plant and expansion of its Research and Development (R&D) activities in Rohtak. The diesel engine manufacturing facility to be set up inside its Gurgaon plant location would require an investment of close to Rs. 1700 crores while the R&D centre at Rohtak would be attracting an investment of close to Rs. 900 crores. Mr. R.C Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman commented on the occasion saying that the diesel engine manufacturing unit would be wholly owned by the company and will be a brand new unit.
He also added that the Board of Directors meeting held has approved of the various testing facilities coming up in Rohtak like emissions and safety along with an additional investment of Rs. 1500 crores to build a world-class test track. The operations would be carried out in phased and are expected to commence from mid-2013. In the first phase, 950 crores will be invested which will have a capacity to roll out 1.5 lakh units per year. By 2014, it is expected to be doubled to 3 lakh units with an additional investment of Rs. 1700 crores. With all this investments lined up, Maruti Suzuki is indeed being bullish on the Indian car market, which is amidst a slight decline, owing to the increase in fuel costs and interest rates.
