Yamaha may set up a Third Plant in Tamil Nadu

India Yamaha Motor subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Company of Japan is, all set to announce its third plant in Tamil Nadu state according to news reported by Business Standard. According to sources close to development, the company has shortlisted Tamil Nadu out of three states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra, and will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by May this year. However, the company has not said anything regarding the proposed investment and finalization of location.  Earlier the company announced that it is looking for land in Tamilnadu and Karnataka for its proposed third plant.  The company also announced that it plans to invest Rs. 800 core in the next two years on capacity expansion.

According to sources close to development, “Yamaha will soon sign the MoU with the state government. It may happen in April or May,” a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity. The state government official, however, said “they [Yamaha] are coming with huge investments. We are dealing with companies, who are interested to set up manufacturing facility here”, but declined to reveal the figures. He also confirmed that Yamaha has identified location. O Panneerselvam, the state Finance Minister of Tamilnadu said major investment proposals from firms, including Yamaha, Eicher, Enfield, Philips Carbon, Sundaram Clayton, TI Group, Saint Gobain and Nokia, are in the pipeline while presenting Budget.

The company has produced 5.2 lakhs units in 2011 out of which 1.9 lakh units were exported. The company currently has two plants at Faridabad (Haryana) and Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) with annual production capacity of 6 lakh units. The company hopes to clock sell of 6.5 lakh units in this year and aims clock sales of 10 lakh units by the year 2014. The company is also planning to launch its scooter in Indian market by the second half of this year. As the present production capacity is not enough for the future growth and sales we will see the plant announcement in couple of months.

– Mahavir Kothari