Maruti’s third Haryana unit by 2025; ‘full capacity in 8 years’

Maruti Suzuki on Friday signed a pact with the Haryana government to set up its third plant in the state, for an investment of Rs 18,000 crore. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the facility is expected to generate 13,000 jobs of which over 10,000 will go to people from Haryana.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) signed an agreement with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) for allotment of 800-acre land to set up a new car manufacturing unit, and another with Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMPIL) for 100-acre land to set up an integrated manufacturing facility for two-wheelers and their engines, at Industrial Model Township (IMT) at Kharkhoda, Sonipat.

Calling it “one of the biggest investments in the state”, Khattar said, “Today, if Gurgaon has become an iconic destination for investors, it is due to the base provided by Maruti, which started its production in Haryana four decades ago. We are heading towards a new era of relationship between Haryana and Japan.”

“Kharkhoda is 65 km away from the airport, 18 km from the railway station and National Highway and also has a link to KMP (Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway). The investment by big companies like Maruti in this area has given a positive boost to the industrial environment. In the coming days, this area will emerge as an industrial hub,” added Khattar.

He said an amount of around Rs 2,400 crore was given to Haryana through HSIIDC, the biggest transaction for a land parcel in the state.

Maruti said it had completed the process of allotment of an 800 acres site at IMT Kharkhoda with HSIIDC.

“The first plant with a manufacturing capacity of 2,50,000 vehicles per annum is expected to be commissioned within the year 2025 subject to administrative approvals. In the first phase, the investment would be over Rs 11,000 crore. The site will have space for capacity expansion to include more manufacturing plants in the future,” it added.

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said, “With Maruti and several ancillaries coming up, Gurgaon has been transformed from a small rural area to a global city. We are hoping the same development will happen in Kharkhoda.”

“Our plant at Kharkhoda, where the potential is for the production of about one million cars a year, will be a major contributor to meeting demands of India and abroad. Subject to market conditions being favourable in India, we expect to reach our full capacity in Kharkhoda in about 8 years’ time. Kharkhoda would become the largest car centre anywhere in India. The success of Maruti shows that there is no alternative but for governments and private sector industries to work together with mutual trust,” Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said.

He added that the plant at Kharkhoda will not produce electric vehicles and that recruitment of skilled manpower from the state would not be a problem.

At 800 acres, this will be the biggest manufacturing facility for MSIL. Since setting up its first car plant at Gurgaon in the 1980s, MSIL has expanded its manufacturing footprint in Haryana by setting up a production facility in Manesar and a R&D centre in Rohtak.

Later, at a press conference, Khattar said, “Maruti Suzuki is Gurgaon and Gurgaon is Haryana. Maruti Suzuki is part of Haryana.”

Chautala said that initially there were reservations that the the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidate Act — which reserves 75 per cent jobs in the private sector for those from the state — may hurt interests of the industry, but after consultations, some exemptions were given and now there is consensus that the act will help industry grow.

On a question regarding increase in the cost of production due to inflation, Khattar said the entire process of production is dependent on demand and supply and market forces, which is not in the hands of the government.