The Hindu Business Line : ICML plans Rs 700-cr investment by 2009

Plans ahead The MUV has been priced between Rs 5.85 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh and would be available across the country from September. The company plans to establish a dealer network of 200 by the end of the fiscal. International Tractors Ltd would invest Rs 450 crore in setting up a new tractor manufacturing facility in South India.

UPGRADED VERSION: International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML) Chairman, Mr L.D. Mittal (right), and Managing Director, Mr Deepak Mittal, with British-based Sonalika's new `Rhino Rx' motor car during the launch in the Capital on Thursday. Rhino Rx uses the latest generation light-weight 100BHP Rover diesel engine in collaboration with Lotus Engineering. It is priced between Rs 5.85 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi June 14 International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML), part of the Sonalika Group, on Thursday said it planned to invest Rs 700 crore by 2009. This would be mainly for capacity expansion, launch of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and a design facility.

"We will invest Rs 200 crore to double our production capacity from the current 2,000 units per month for the newly launched multi-utility vehicle, Rhino Rx. Rs 250 crore would be used towards our new SUV and another Rs 150 crore for a design facility," said Mr Deepak Mittal, Managing Director, ICML, during the launch of its upgraded version of MUV Rhino RX.

The MUV has been priced between Rs 5.85 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh and would be available across the country from September. The company would phase-out the earlier model, which sells about 200 units per month, and is targeting to sell 2,000 units a month of the new version.

He said the company was looking to strengthen its position in the multi-utility vehicle segment by establishing a dealer network of 200 by the end of the fiscal. Of this, the company has already appointed 100 dealers. Mr Mittal, however, declined to comment on the company's plans to enter the passenger car segment.

Meanwhile, Mr L.D. Mittal, Chairman, Sonalika Group, said that International Tractors Ltd (ITL) would invest Rs 450 crore in setting up a new tractor manufacturing facility in South India for which it is already in talks with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

He said the new plant would require an investment of about Rs 250-Rs 300 crore, with an annual capacity of about 40,000 tractors.

ITL would also invest Rs 150 crore on doubling capacity of its current facility at Hoshiarpur in Punjab to 80,000 units per annum.

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