Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday commenced work on its fully-owned manufacturing facility at Hansalpur, Gujarat with an investment of Rs 3,000 crore. The first assembly line at the new unit with initial capacity of 1,50,000 units will be commissioned in May 2017. Capacity would eventually be stepped up to 2,50,000 units. Osamu Suzuki, chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), said, “For the Suzuki group, setting up of this new facility in Gujarat is the start of a new era. Under the ‘Make in India’ programme, we will set up a state-of-the-art production plant in Gujarat, with high focus on productivity .” Suzuki and Gujarat chief minister Anandi Patel appealed to the locals to “cooperate” in setting up a plant in a region where the state government has faced protests from farmers in setting up an SIR (Special Investment Region). “There is a lot of people from this region who are present here. Brothers and sisters, we want to set up this plant with your co-operation . ,” said Suzuki. While investments in Gujarat are currently being made by Maruti Suzuki, the facility would be transferred to SMC upon receiving approval from minority shareholders. MSIL chairman R C Bhargava said, “The amendment to the Companies Act has been passed by the Lok Sabha. As soon as it is cleared by the Parliament, we will progress on getting approval from minority shareholders to allow Suzuki to own and build the new units.” ‘Looking at labour laws, sops to boost Make in India’ New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the government is working on amending the archaic labour laws while ensuring easy credit to entrepreneurs with a view to give a fillip to the ‘Make in India’ campaign. Sitharaman also said that the much-delayed foreign trade policy (FTP) to boost exports would be unveiled soon. “Labour law is the area where the government has to spend a lot of time. archaic rules may all be looked into and some resolution brought in,” the minister said. ENS
