New Delhi, Dec 23: Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday said it has started spadework to set up its second facility in Gujarat with acquisition of another 600 acres, in addition to its existing plan to invest Rs. 4,000 crore for setting up a plant in the State.
The company also said it expects about 6-7 per cent sales growth in 2013-14 after closing the current fiscal with about 6 per cent rise in vehicle sales.
“We have land at two locations in Gujarat. The first one is offered by the government and the second one is a private land that is directly acquired by us with some negotiations by the government,” Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R.C. Bhargava said.
The company has acquired about 600 acres, located about 40 km from the first site near Mehsana, he added.
“The second location is for our future expansion. Once we exhaust the capacity at the first site, we will move to the second one,” Mr. Bhargava said.
When asked if MSI is shifting its focus from Haryana, where it has recently witnessed severe labour unrest, Mr. Bhargava said: “We are not moving away from Haryana. We have two plants in the State and going to Gujarat after utilising the capacity completely at Gurgaon and Manesar. We will do the same once we exhaust the capacity in Gujarat also.”
Talking about the company's performance in this fiscal, Bhargava said: “We are going to end this year with a growth of about 6 per cent over last year. Overall, there is a sign of softening in India's car market due to various factors.”
During the next financial year, the company is not expecting anything better than the current fiscal and it will grow in single digit only, he added.
“We hope to grow 6-7 per cent growth at best in next fiscal, which is going to be the election year and so we don't expect anything drastic happening,” Mr. Bhargava said.
