The Hindu : Kerala News : BMW team visits Kochi port

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

BMW team visits Kochi port

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JULY 27. A team of officials from the luxury car-maker BMW that arrived here Saturday night held a round of discussions with the State Industries Secretary, K. Mohandas, today.

Prior to meeting Mr. Mohandas, the BMW team, led by the company's Senior Manager for International Operations, Wolfram Rehm, visited the Kochi port. The team visited the site for the proposed International Container Transshipment Terminal on the Vallarpadam Island. It held talks with a team of Port officials led by the Port Trust chairman, Jacob Thomas.

It is learnt that the BMW team was impressed with the facilities at the port. The team met the Customs Commissioner, G.V. Naik, in the morning.BMW, which plans to set up its third manufacturing base in Asia, is on a location hunt in India.The company officials are looking at the infrastructure and logistics available in this port city. Cars either assembled or manufactured in Kochi will have to be shipped to destinations like Mumbai and Kolkata and the BMW team is looking at the facilities available here for the purpose. About 35 per cent of the shipments will go to Mumbai while another 35 per cent will be shipped to destinations in North India. The proposal is to set up a 2,000 car per year facility in Kochi. It is learnt that the Government has expressed its willingness to provide 25 acres of land in Kalamassery and promised uninterrupted power supply and potable water.

The delegation also held informal discussions with the MPs, K. Chandran Pillai and Sebastian Paul. This was aimed at understanding first hand the labour situation in Kerala, it is learnt.

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