Rajasthan approves Honda Siel's car project

Rajasthan has cleared Honda Siel Cars Ltd (HSCL) plan to set up a Rs 2,000 crore car-manufacturing project in the state. The project is slated to come up in Khuskhera in Alwar district.

"The state Cabinet in a meeting, held on Wednesday, approved HSCL project to manufacture 40,000 cars per annum," Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore said.

He said the project is expected to offer employment to over 5,000 people. "The state government would acquire 600 acres of land for the project," Rathore said, adding the farmers would be provided a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per hectare of land acquired for the purpose. The project is to be completed in two years.

The state government also decided to reduce the Central Sales Tax (CST) from the applicable 4 per cent to 0.5 per cent for the Honda project. HSCL was incorporated in December 1995 as a joint venture between the Japanese auto major and Siel Ltd, a Siddharth Shriram Group company.

The Rajasthan plant will be the company's second project in India. It started operations in the country by setting up a plant at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh in 1997.

The state cabinet also announced a package of Rs 610 crore for the state government employees. The cabinet also issued a status paper on the issue of refinery proposed to be set up at Barmer to process crude oil found in the Barmer-Sanchore basin.

The state government would assist Cairn Energy, the Scottish company and ONGC to set up the refinery at Barmer to enable use of the crude for processing purpose in the state. The state government is likely to issue incentive package to the companies soon for setting up of the refinery.

The state government also decided to increase the age limit for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe from 35 years to 40 years in government services.