— Photo: R. V. Moorthy

A STEP FORWARD: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (right), with O. Suzuki, Chairman and CEO, Suzuki Motor Corporation, and Jagdish Khattar (left), Managing Director, Maruti Udyog Ltd., during the inauguration of the diesel engine and transmission plant at Manesar on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to India, promising an investment of 300 billion yen (about Rs. 11,000 crore) for the company's various ventures in India over the next three-four years.

Fourth plant

"So far we have invested about 100 billion yen. Going forward, we are investing an additional 200 billion yen up to 2010,'' Osamu Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of SMC, said, while inaugurating Maruti Udyog Ltd.'s fourth assembly plant at Manesar near Gurgaon in Haryana.

The Japanese auto giant has already announced an investment of about 250 billion yen (Rs. 9,000 crore) for Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) and Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL), which would include capacity expansions, development of new models, extension of research and development.

Apart from the fourth assembly plant for MUL and the diesel engine and transmission plant for SPIL, Mr. Suzuki inaugurated the plant for the two-wheeler venture of Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd. involving an investment 20 billion yen with commitment to invest an additional 30 billion yen for overall other capital expenditure.

He said the group was committed to its Indian venture and would continue to take the leadership role in motorisation of India and was aiming to sell one million cars in the country by 2010.

On the issue of technology transfer, Mr. Suzuki said SMC would pass on the entire gearbox technology to MUL. "SMC has 54 per cent stake in Maruti and there is nothing to hide. It is not a rival company. Therefore, we are transferring the technology to the extent of 100 per cent,'' he said.

Diesel engines

He said SPIL, the joint venture of SMC with MUL, in which SMC has 70 per cent stake and the balance with MUL, would be manufacturing transmissions for one million vehicles by 2008. Initially the plant would have a capacity to manufacture one lakh diesel engines a year. It would be scaled up to three lakh engines by 2010 with a total investment of Rs. 2,500 crore.

The newly inaugurated assembly facility would be utilised for manufacturing MUL's premium hatchback Swift as also the proposed export model expected to be rolled out in 2008-09. This plant too would have an initial capacity of one lakh cars which would be stepped up to three lakh cars annually.

The company has earmarked a total investment of Rs. 2,500 crore by 2010 in this unit.

Both MUL's fourth car plant and SPIL's diesel transmission facility are located within the same campus in Manesar, extending over 600 acres.

With the inauguration of the new plant, MUL will have an overall total capacity of 7.3 lakh units annually at present from its Gurgaon and Manesar plants.

Besides consolidation in the domestic market, MUL has also set a target of exporting 1.5 lakh units of cars from India to global markets, including Europe.

Similarly SPIL is set to start exporting its diesel engine to Suzuki's plant in Hungary this year.

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