Ford's Rs 4,000-crore plant to come up in Gujarat

The United States carmaker Ford on Thursday said it will invest Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) to set up its second manufacturing facility in India with an initial installed capacity of 2.4 lakh (240,000) units annually.

The company, which is present in the country through wholly owned subsidiary Ford India, will set up the facility on a 460-acre location at Sanand in Gujarat.

The facility will also house an engine plant having an installed capacity of 2.7 lakh (270,000) units annually. The proposed investment is likely to create 5,000 jobs in the state.

"Ford will invest approximately Rs 4,000 crore (approximately $1 billion) in the two facilities, which include stamping, body, paint and assembly operations for vehicle manufacturing, as well as machining and assembly operations for engine manufacturing," Ford India said in a statement.

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The vehicle assembly unit and the engine plant will have initial production capacities of 2.4 lakh units and 2.7 lakh units, respectively, it added.

The company will start construction of both plants later this year and the plant is scheduled to be operationalised in 2014, the statement said.

"We are delighted to announce that Ford's newest vehicle manufacturing site will be here in Gujarat.

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"Ford has very aggressive expansion plans in India and in Asia Pacific and Africa, and these two new plants will be important in realising our growth strategy here in one of the most dynamic regions in the world," Ford president and CEO (Asia Pacific and Africa) Joe Hinrichs said.

Ford said it selected Gujarat because of the state's pro-business environment, infrastructure, access to ports in north western India and skilled workforce.

With this announcement, Ford's total investment in India will increase to about $2 billion, the company said.

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Currently Ford India has its manufacturing and engine facility in Chennai. It employs over 10,000 people in India across its manufacturing, global business services and IT operations.

"This is an investment in the future of Ford globally. These new state-of-the-art facilities will help us reach the goal of increasing worldwide sales by nearly 50 per cent by mid-decade to about 8 million vehicles per year," Hinrichs said.

The US car giant is introducing over 50 new vehicles and powertrains to the Asia Pacific and African region by the middle of this decade as 60-70 per cent of Ford's growth is expected to come from this region over the next ten years.