Hyundai Motor India will submit a Rs 1,500-crore expansion plan to the Tamil Nadu Government later this week, according to reliable sources.

Confirming the development, the Industries Secretary, Mr Rajeev Ranjan, said the Korean car company which had been planning a Rs 500-crore investment in a diesel engine plant, had decided to go for a bigger expansion in the State.

To seek sops

While the details of the expansion plan are awaited, the company is likely to put up one more production line and other related infrastructure. Hyundai Motor will seek a package of incentives available for projects under the State Government's industrial policy for super mega investments in automobile projects.

Hyundai Motor has been in discussions with the State Government on a range of issues relating to the proposal over the last one month. All of these have been resolved and a final proposal is expected by the weekend from the company, he said.

Hyundai Motor's production facility at Sriperumbudur, about 30 km to the west of Chennai on the NH4, has a capacity of over six lakh units annually, making it the second largest car manufacturer in the country. With 40 per cent of its production being exported to 120 countries, Hyundai is the largest car exporter.

Production capacity

The planned expansion will take its capacity to about a million units. Last year, Hyundai had said that it could add a capacity of 70,000 units with some debottlenecking at its existing facility. Market leader Maruti Suzuki now has a capacity of 1.2 million units and has announced plans to increase it to 1.7 million within two years.

Hyundai, which commenced production in India about 12 years ago, has continuously expanded its capacity and product range. It has produced over three million units and sold more than two million as of 2010.

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