Lumax Auto to set up unit in Pantnagar

With auto companies moving toward Uttarakhand in view of tax holiday scheme, Lumax Auto, a company which was listed on the BSE today, is planning to set up an automotive lighting unit at Pantnagar industrial estate.

Lumax new plant would serve as an ancillary unit to Bajaj Auto which is also setting up a manufacturing unit at Pantnagar to produce motorbikes. Lumax plans to invest Rs 5 to Rs 10 crore in the new plant, officials said.

In the last two years Pant Nagar industrial estate has attracted top notch auto companies with Ashok Leyland being the latest entrant. Ashok Leyland has already been allotted 150 acres of plot in Pantnagar where it is planning to invest Rs 1,000-Rs 1,100 crores.

Among the other auto companies which are setting up their units in the state include Hero Honda, Tata Motors, M&M and Bajaj Auto.

Hero Honda made its entry in Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) last year by announcing that it would set up a new unit at Haridwar. An investment of Rs 1,200 crore is expected in the Haridwar industrial unit, officials said. The company has selected 275 acres of land in this regard.

Tata Motors is also expected to invest Rs 2,000 crore in its manufacturing facility at Pantnagar industrial estate. The company would be producing Ace trucks for which it has already bought 1,000 acres of land from the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal Limited (SIDCUL) which is building both Pant Nagar and Haridwar industrial estates.

Pantnagar has also attracted an investment of Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore from Bajaj Auto which would establish a manufacturing unit for producing motorbikes.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has started production from its automotive plant for producing three wheelers at the Integrated Industrial Estate (IIE) in Haridwar.

The plant is the company's fifth full-scale automotive plant which has been constructed at Rs 70 crore that also include its ancillary Neel Metal Product Ltd, exclusively set up for M&M to supply cabs, cargo bodies and other sub-assemblies and aggregates.