Honda Cars to be Maruti’s neighbour in Gujarat
Company is in the process of acquiring land at Vithalapur; to be its third plant in the country
Japanese auto giant Honda Cars India Ltd, which was in talks with the Gujarat government since 2014 for setting up a plant, is now acquiring land for its third plant in the country in Vithalapur, near Ahmedabad.
The company, however, maintained that this is part of its long-term India plan and nothing immediate. “We are investing in Gujarat from a long-term, future growth perspective,” the company spokesperson said.
Business Standard had earlier reported that Honda Cars was in active talks with the state government here to set up a facility.
This will be Honda Cars first plant in India that will have proximity to ports with a potential to export out of the site. Honda is buying land from locals and that is making the process time-consuming. The location of the site is strategic as it is near Suzuki Motor’s upcoming plant, and is also about 40 km from Sanand – the flagship auto cluster of Gujarat housing Tata Motors and Ford India.
Around 380 acres has been identified and the process of acquisition is still on. A company spokesperson said, “Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) is still in the process of acquiring land in Gujarat for future growth. The land acquisition is still not complete and we are not in a position to share any more details about the project as of now.” And added that HCIL has sufficient production capacity at its two plants in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Tapukara in Rajasthan to meet the current and near-future demand for the Indian market.
It currently has an installed capacity of 240,000 units and its annual sales is roughly around 200,000 units in India at present. HCIL’s first manufacturing unit was set up at Greater Noida in 1997. The green field project is spread across 150 acres and has an annual production capacity of 120,000 units. HCIL’s second plant in Tapukara is the first car manufacturing plant in the state of Rajasthan.This facility is spread over 450 acres and has an annual production capacity of 120,000 units. HCIL started production from its Tapukara Plant from February 2014.