Hero Cycles today started operations at its new manufacturing facility near Patna, which will primarily cater to the markets in East India, including Bihar and Jharkhand.
The facility at Bihta (near Patna), which is the company's first outside Punjab, has a capacity to produce 10 lakh bicycles per annum and has come up at an investment of over Rs 45 crore.
"This plant is a long cherished dream of ours where we get to be closer to our customers, who have steadily been loyal to the Hero brand over many decades," Hero Cycles Co-Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj Munjal said in a statement.
The plant will not only bring the company closer to customers, but will also allow the firm to provide them with highly customised products to cater to the rising aspirations of this region, he added.
"Our aim with Bihta plant is to make Hero cycles more affordable and accessible," Munjal said.
The company, which recently bought 60 per cent stake in German bicycle company MIFA for 15 million euros, said the production capacity of the Bihita plant would be doubled over 3-5 years to expand its reach to North-East, West Bengal and Orissa.
The plant constructed over an area of 7 acres and a built up area of 1 lakh square feet has been put together in a record time of 11 months, the company said.
The company's other cycle manufacturing plants are located at Ludhiana in Punjab.
