Toyota Plans Industrial Park In Bangalore

Close on the heels of entering India through a joint venture passenger car venture with the Kirloskar group, the Japanese car major, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), is planning to set up a mega industrial park in Karnataka. The project, which is proposed to be a fully-owned subsidiary of TMC, is to come up in the Bidadi industrial area on the outskirts of Bangalore.

According to the company's plans, the industrial park will house a number of medium-scale Japanese companies besides several local ventures.

Though the Japanese car major is planning to set up the project with a small start-up capital of Rs 45 crore, it proposes to make massive investments in the venture over the next three to five years.

 

The company, however, has not yet finalised the details of its future investment plans in the project.

This is the first time any Japanese multinational is planning to enter the industrial park segment with a mega project after the exclusive Japanese township failed to take off.

The Japanese industrial township project, which has been facing problems right from the beginning, has almost been grounded.

TMC's decision to enter the local market with a second mega project will be a morale-booster for the central government at a time when it is making all out efforts to attract foreign direct investment in the aftermath of the economic sanctions coupled with the Moody's downgrading of the country's sovereign rating.

According to sources close to TMC, the company's entry into the industrial park segment also fits in with its plans to bring in several of the company's own vendors for the joint venture car project. The Toyota-Kirloskar car project is also coming up on the outskirts of Bangalore.

By bringing in its own vendors for sourcing some of the critical components for the cars, Toyota would be able to ensure its superior quality standards for the cars manufactured from its Indian plant.

The Karnataka government is understood to have offered several concessions for the Toyota project.

The details of the concessions to the project could not be ascertained as no state industry ministry officials could be reached for their comments on the issue.