The auto makers of India all seem to be extremely fond of Gujarat. This particular Indian state has emerged as a magnet for the car giants operating in the country. From the home grown Tata Motors, to the American Ford Motors to the Indo-Japanese Maruti Suzuki all have one thing in common, an already existing or an upcoming manufacturing facility in Gujarat. Now, the Japanese car major Honda has also set its eyes on Gujarat taking the state’s car manufacturing hub a step further.
Honda Mobilio MPV 2014
Honda’s fully owned Indian subsidiary, Honda Cars India is expressed interest in setting up a new facility in the state of Gujarat. The auto major is all set to sign an agreement with the state government of Gujarat in the coming one month’s time. The Honda Cars India’s planned Gujarat facility is being contemplated in Vithalapur which is located at a distance of 80 kilometers from Ahmedabad. The land for the upcoming project is being procured while the car maker will be keeping contact with the Industry Extension Bureau (IndextB).
The upcoming planned Honda production facility in Vithalapur, Gujarat is expected to be requiring an investment of a whopping Rs. 4,000 crore that will be invested in different phases. The first phase of the company’s upcoming plant will be getting a preliminary investment of around Rs. 2,200 to Rs. 2,500 crores, while the remaining amount will be invested in the second phase of the construction of the plant. This new planned Honda factory will have the capacity of churning out 1 to 1.25 lakh units per year and it will be getting set up as a ‘Mega Project’ which is a particular category of the Industrial Policy of Gujarat.
This new Vithalpur Honda facility in Gujarat is not the Japanese company’s first plant in the state and will be its second large investment in the state, as it already has an existing manufacturing facility for its two-wheeler wing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. The company has done a revolutionary ceremony for its new scooter production unit in Vithalpur itself in the month of October last year, and ever since an upcoming car plant has been rumored. The new Honda scooter unit sprawls over a total area of 250 acres and will be having an annual production capacity of over 12 lakh units. The completion as well as the commission of this new unit is slated for later in this year.
Honda Cars India’s present production capacity accounts at 240,000 units per year which is rolled out in 120,000 units per factory from the company’s two existing facilities in Greater Noida and in Tapukara Rajasthan. The Tapukara, Rajasthan’s facility will also be increasing its production capacity to 180,000 by the middle next year which will make the production capacity 300,000 units per year.
Once the planned Gujarat facility becomes operational, Honda India’s production capacity will be increased to 420,000 units per year. This will help the company produce adequate quantities of new vehicles.
