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Journalism of Courage
Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to set up a plant in Pune district to manufacture heavy vehicles like trucks and buses through a joint venture with US-based International Truck and Engine Corporation.
The greenfield plant would be located near Pune on 700 acres and the company would invest about Rs 2,500 crore over five years. The company would use 90 per cent of local components and the production would start in two years. The installed capacity of the plant would be 2.50 lakh vehicles per annum and it would be increased eventually.
This will be the fifth major auto investment in the Pune region after Volkswagen, GM, Tata-Fiat and Daimler-Chrysler announced plans to set up new plants in the last one year. Speaking on the occasion, the chief secretary of the state government D.K. Sankaran said that in the next 15 years, about $60 billion would be spent for infrastructural development in Mumbai alone and most of the work would go to domestic industries.
State secretary for industries V.K. Jairath said that the state had attracted investments worth Rs 43,200 crore, including about Rs 10,000 crore in the automotive sector in the past one year.
M&M vice chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra, Industries minister Ashok Chavan, US counsel general for Mumbai Micheal Owen and several officials were present for the inking of the MoU. The factory will have a capacity to produce wide range of commercial vehicles, and will include cab assembly, vehicle assembly and a paint shop.
“M&M’s new facility is of strategic value in our plans to expand our product spectrum to commercial vehicles and feed our aspirations to be a global player. The ITEC joint venture is a significant step in our evolution as an integrated player in the global automotive market,” said Anand Mahindra.
