Maurti MD to meet Modi today on Gujarat plans

Amid speculations that Maruti Suzuki India was looking to set up a production facility in Gujarat, a senior government official on Monday confirmed that Maruti Managing Director Shinzo Nakanishi would meet Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

“Yes, talks are on, and they are likely to get back with their feedback tomorrow,” informed a senior government official here, adding that no deal was likely to be signed immediately. He added that the land could be somewhere near Sanand. A top-level delegation from the company, including Chairman R C Bhargava, is also expected to accompany Nakanishi.

A Maruti spokesperson said: “We are not in a position to comment on the development.”

However, a top Maruti official said: “There won’t be any documents for signing. We are just going to meet the chief minister of Gujarat, where Nakanishi would speak on behalf of the company, while he will be assisted by the chairman."

Industry sources here indicated that Maruti could park its seventh plant in the country, and its first outside Haryana, right beside Tata Motors’ factory at Sanand.

The Gujarat government had allotted land for Tata Motors’ Nano plant in October 2008 from a 2,200-acre plot it had taken from the Anand Agricultural University (AAU). While Tata Motors had been allotted 1,100 acres, the government retained the remaining 1,100 acres.

Even as the state government remained tight-lipped about the exact location of land, highly placed sources in the government hinted at a possibility of the country’s largest-selling car maker, Maruti Suzuki, being allotted land just next to the Tata Motors plant.

Meanwhile, the state government’s industrial promotion agency, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) is also developing an industrial estate on about 5,000 acres. The state government agency hinted it had not yet been approached formally for allotting land for the Maruti project.

At present, Maruti Suzuki has an installed capacity of 1.2 million cars a year in Gurgaon and Manesar. It is in the process of setting up two more plants at Manesar. A company spokesperson informed that while one plant at Manesar was likely to come on stream within this year, the second plant would be operational by 2012-13. With these two facilities coming up, the net capacity of Maruti Suzuki will rise to 1.7 million units a year.

According to industry estimates, the automobile industry in the country is expected to touch 4.5-5 million units by 2013-14.

By setting up a plant in Gujarat, the company will also have access to the anciallary industry close by, in Rajkot and Pune, besides access to the Mundra port. At present, Maruti exports through the Mundra Port.