Maruti Udyog Ltd, India's biggest carmaker, plans to set up a greenfield manufacturing facility in Haryana to meet increasing volumes.

The company is in talks with the state government to ascertain the availability of land and other infrastructure for the proposed project, its second in Haryana.

After this, a detailed proposal would be placed before the board of directors for consideration, a company release said.

The statement however, did not mention the size, capacity or the investment planned for the greenfield plant.

Maruti, which is 54.2 per cent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., now manufactures of 10 passenger vehicle models at its sole facility at Gurgaon (Haryana), having a capacity of about 500,000 units annually.

Maruti's announcement comes close on the heels of a statement by the Haryana government, which stated the carmaker has been allotted 600 acres of land for its second project in the state, involving a proposed investment of Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion).

The new plant is likely to be set up as Maruti tries to cater to surging volumes, in the domestic and export markets.

The company leads the domestic car market, which comprises 12 companies like Hyundai, Tata Motors and Honda.

Maruti's cumulative (April 2003-January 2004) sales grew 30.3 per cent to 3,77,159 vehicles.

Domestic sales rose 27.6 per cent to 3,37,288 units, while exports climbed 58.2 per cent to 39,871 units.