auto news desk,The waiting problem for Maruti cars is going to end soon. The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it is looking to set up a new plant with a production capacity of one million vehicles. The plant has been planned to meet the growing demand of the domestic market as well as exports.
MSI Chairman RC Bhargava informed about the setting up of this new plant in a virtual press conference after the announcement of March quarter results. He said that the proposed plant would be set up separately from the one currently under construction at Sonepat in Haryana. However, no decision has been taken on the new plant and the investments to be made at its location. But the company’s board of directors has in-principle accepted the proposal to set up a new plant with an annual capacity of producing one million vehicles.
According to MSI, the new plant will be set up in a phased manner. It will be developed progressively keeping in view the market conditions. The auto giant has set a capex target of around Rs 8,000 crore in the current financial year. It had earmarked Rs 6,300 crore in the financial year ending 2022-23. The company had cash of about Rs 45,000 crore at the end of March 2023. Maruti is currently setting up its new plant at Kharkhoda in Sonepat at a cost of about Rs 11,000 crore. The plant, with an initial capacity of around 2.5 lakh vehicles per annum, is expected to be operational by 2025. The total capacity of the Sonepat plant will be one million vehicles.
He, however, did not specify the investment figure for the new plant, but indicated that it would be slightly higher than the investment being made in the Sonepat plant. Maruti currently has two plants at Manesar and Gurugram with an annual capacity of around 1.5 million vehicles. In addition, the company has also contracted manufacturing with Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) with a capacity of 7.5 lakh units. The company said it will bring a three-row full hybrid model in partnership with Toyota. According to Bhargava, the company aims to add six electric models to its portfolio by 2030. Most of these models will be in the SUV segment.