GM to invest $ 200 m in engine plant in Maharashtra...

General Motors has formalised an agreement to build a new engine plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra. The initial investment in the new GM powertrain facility will exceed $200 million. This is in addition to more than $300 million already invested in the said facility to manufacture vehicles.

The engine plant will have an annual production capacity of 1.60 lakh engines, with the capability of being expanded to three lakh engines annually. The engine and the car manufacturing plant will employ more than 1,400 people in the same facility to begin with and going forward, the employee strength will go up depending on the requirements.

Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, GM India, said “The new engine facility demonstrates GM’s commitment to India. We cannot remain a global industry leader without a strong presence in the high-growth market of India. This will enable us to capture more opportunities in one of the fastest-growing vehicle markets in the world.”

“The Talegaon engine facility is an important component of GM’s global strategy to establish a strong presence in this market. This is just one of a number of investments, totalling more than $1 billion that GM has made over the course of the last few years in emerging markets around the world such as China, Korea, Russia and India.

The decision to build the engine facility also in India further demonstrates GM’s confidence in our future and our commitment to growing the business all across the globe. The new facility will enable us to continue expanding our product line-up in India.”

The engine facility is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2010.

The engine facility will complement GM’s production facilities in Talegaon and Halol, which build vehicles in different segments. In addition, the GM India Technical Centre in Bangalore carries out engineering, design, research and development activities for local, regional and global requirements.