The government of Gujarat will allocate a 400 acre plot to the leading US auto company Ford Motors for setting up their second manufacturing facility in India. The INR 5,000 crore plant will be located near the main facility of Tata Nano in Sanand, about 40kms from Ahmedabad.
The government will also set aside an additional 100 acres for a vendor park. The government will be making a formal announcement today. Meanwhile, the head of Ford’s Africa and Asia Pacific division, Joe Hinrichs, and the MD and head of Ford India, Michael Boneham will sign a memorandum of understanding with the government of Gujarat for sealing the deal. Ford India already has a manufacturing facility in Chennai.
According to Ford, keeping with their long term commitment in India, the company plans on pursuing an aggressive strategy of growth for bringing international standard vehicles in India. As part of this plan, the company will launch 8 new models by 2015. For this, the company is making a significant expansion of its production capacities in their existing plant in Tamil Nadu, and also exploring different options for meeting the increasing demand in India, and from export markets worldwide.
This move by the company comes at a time when another major auto company, Maruti Suzuki also expressed their interest in opening a facility in the state of Gujarat. Other companies, which plan to open plants in Gujarat, include PSA Peugeot Citroen, and two wheeler manufacturers Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda.
Officials of French car manufacturer, Peugeot Citroen already visited Gujarat and are in the middle of finalising this project, which would also be located close to the Tata Nano facility. The company is likely to make a formal announcement in a month. Another auto major, Bajaj Auto is also planning on opening their largest and fourth manufacturing facility in Gujarat near Mundra port. This plant is also to manufacture a passenger car, for which Bajaj has tied up with Nissan Renault.
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