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Maruti Suzuki, which sells almost half the cars in the country, could use the additional land adjoining its Rohtak research facility for its seventh plant. This is to help shore up capacities to touch 25 lakh units by 2015.
Still in its early stages, the plan could entail investments of about Rs 3,500 crore, senior officials told Business Line , though a complete strategy would emerge in a year.
Maruti would need extra annual capacity of five lakh units by 2015 to meet its projections. The car-maker expects to clock 19-20 lakh units a year by 2012-13, for which additional capacities are already being set up.
“The car market is expected to touch about five million units by 2015 and to maintain our market share, we would have to sell around 2.5 million (25 lakh) units a year. There is no extra land available at Gurgaon for expansion and Manesar can only take partial expansion beyond the two additional plants that are already being built. However, we have enough land at Rohtak, which we may use. It is feasible because a new expressway being laid will ensure that Rohtak will only be 45 minutes away from Manesar,” said an official.
A full plant would mean setting up welding, paint and assembly shops, for which a plant with an annual capacity of five lakh would not be possible at Manesar, the official added.
At present, Maruti has an annual production capacity of about 14 lakh units across three plants in Gurgaon and another one at Manesar. On a combined investment of Rs 3,625 crore, work is progression on at two more plants at Manesar, which by 2012-13 would take its total capacity to 19-20 lakh units.
At the Rohtak site, which has a research and development facility and a test-track, about 100 acres of the total 700-odd acres reian un-used.
“We will need a new plant location to meet our growth projections. After the current expansion phase, the Manesar plant would have about 100 acres left. But this is good for only 2.5-3 lakh additional annual capacity, so we will look elsewhere. However, it is still early and the final planning is expected to happen by next year,” added another senior company official.
For any such large investment, Maruti Suzuki would also need to seek approval from the Japanese parent, Suzuki Motor Corporation, which has over 50 per cent stake in the domestic carmaker.
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