M&M to open new plant at Chakan

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the Mumbai-based manufacturer of utility vehicles and tractors, would open a new plant in the Chakan industrial estate near Pune on Saturday, with an initial annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.

The company invested Rs 4,000 crore and took two years to set up the plant, said Pawan Goenka, president, automotive sector, M&M, on the sidelines of a conference at the Maharashtra Economic Summit.

Goenka informed that the Chakan facility, spread across 236 hectares, would produce vehicles ranging from the recently-launched 0.75 tonne (light truck) Maxximo and 49 tonne Mahindra Navistar Truck to all new premium SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) and pick-up trucks.

According to a Maharashtra government official, M&M built a state-of-the-art paint shop, with “superator” for oil removal at pre-treatment lines and use of “electric stirrers and hydraulic pumps” at the paint circulation system of the plant.

The company, according to the official, would bring in vendors and suppliers at the proposed suppliers park near the plant. The list of suppliers include ALF, Track Components, Mungi, JBM, MUSCO and Sharada.

M&M, the country’s biggest manufacturer of SUVs, augmented its investment at Chakan by 60 per cent, or by Rs 1,500 crore, in 2008, when it signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government.

The company’s present annual capacity from its five plants (one is engine making) is about 300,000, which is expected to double with the Chakan facility commencing operations.