Mul Panel Spots Gurgaon For Expansion

Sources say the committee has identified the Maruti factory premises at Gurgaon as the suitable site. R C Bhargava, managing director, MUL, disclosed that the company was awaiting certain clarifications, primarily on tax-related concessions, from the government of Haryana before taking a final decision on the issue.

The Maruti board is slated to meet here today to discuss the companys performance.

Maruti Udyog has also received requests from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and other state governments to locate the plant in their state.

Meanwhile, the company has already initiated work on the third factory project, and has floated tenders for various equipment procurement contracts.

 

The expansion project of the company, which was stalled for due to disagreements between the two partners, Suzuki Motor and the government of India, over investment size and capacity, was recently cleared at the company board meeting held on September 19.

The government had been questioning the nearly Rs 2,400-crore investment first proposed in the detailed project report drawn up by the company to fund its expansion and modernisation plans by the year 2000.

The first phase of expansion plan approved, involving the investment of Rs 1,500 crore, will add 100,000 cars per annum to the companys existing production capacity, and is expected to be completed by end 1998.

The board had also decided that while Rs 600 crore would be met through internal accruals over the next two years, the remaining Rs 900 crore would be raised through debt instruments. The company will also explore the GDR option.

Meanwhile, the company yesterday launched a new Gypsy model, Gypsy King. The eight-seater off-the-road utility vehicle will have a petrol driven 1298cc engine. It features a 5-speed gear box and is available in both hard as well as soft top versions.

Available in four colours -milky white, ocean dark blue, green and pearl black - the new vehicle has been developed to take advantage of the new excise policy which gives a 20 per benefit to more than 6-seater vehicles.

While the hard top Gypsy King is priced at about Rs 3.37 lakh, the soft top version will cost around Rs 3.19 lakh.

Maruti is also converting its existing six-seater 1000cc Gypsy model into an eight-seater, following which the prices of these will come down from the present levels of about Rs 3.13 lakh (hard top) and about Rs 2.93 lakh (soft top).