The Hindu Business Line : Toyota to open technical institute in Bangalore next year

Strengthening workforce
Institute will be set up in 2007 near Bangalore where its factory is situated.
Plans to train around 80 people in the first batch.
Toyota factories will immediately absorb them thereby saving time.

Bangalore , May 26

Ahead of its plans to set up a small car plant in India, Toyota Motor Corporation will open its first technical institute outside Japan to train workers.

With Toyota's decision to set up more factories outside Japan, the management is already drawing up plans to overcome trained manpower shortage. Hence it plans to set up institutes which can train people regularly so that they can be absorbed by the Toyota's factories immediately thereby saving time. Sources in the company told Business Line that the training institute will be set up in 2007 by its joint venture, Toyota Kirloskar near Bangalore where its factory is situated. Toyota has already placed advertisement in newspapers to recruit the faculty.

Sources said with Toyota all set to open a new factory to produce small cars in the country, it will require trained manpower who are readily available.

Hence, this institute will help in fulfilling that need. Toyota plans to train around 80 people in the first batch. "They (Toyota) are extremely meticulous when it comes to setting up new plants. They start implementing their plans at least three to four years ahead of setting up the factory," an auto analyst said.

Toyota is also looking at expanding dealership network, opening more auto parts hubs across the country as part of its plan to set up a new factory.

The new plant is expected to come up towards the end of 2008. At present, the capacity of the plant is 60,000 vehicles per year and the workforce at the floor level is around 1,600.

The new car plant is expected to have a capacity of around 1.5 lakh cars per year. Hence, the number of workers required for the new plant will be more than double the workforce currently employed.

With India emerging as a major hub for most of the international car companies, the country is expected to face a major workforce crunch by the end of this decade.

Sources said Toyota will need at least Rs 1,750 crore for its small car project.

It has already invested around Rs 1,200 crore during the last seven years to manufacture two multi-utility vehicles and a sedan.

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