Kerry visits Ford's Gujarat plant

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday visited auto major Ford India's upcoming manufacturing plant at Sanand in Gujarat that will double the company's production capacity in the country.

"Ford's upcoming plant at Sanand is envisioned as a state -of-the-art facility and recently played host to Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a visit to Gujarat," a Ford India spokesperson said in a statement.

Kerry visited the plant as part of his trip to Gujarat to attend the 7th Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

Earlier in the day, while addressing the summit Kerry said: "For both India and the United States, investing in each other's success is frankly in both of our interests. It is really a smart, strategic bet for both the countries."

This is Ford's second plant in India.

The company is investing  $1 billion to set up the facility which is expected to go on stream by the end of first quarter of 2015.

The plant will have an installed capacity of 2.4 lakh vehicles and 2.7 lakh engines annually.

With completion of the Sanand plant, Ford India will have a total installed capacity of rolling out 4.4 lakh vehicles and 6.1 lakh engines every year.

Ford currently has a manufacturing plant in Chennai.

"Seen as a symbol of US-India cooperation and Ford's commitment to India, Ford's Sanand plant in Gujarat is gearing to be fully operational, with vehicles and engines rolling off the assembly line by the end of first quarter in 2015," the spokesperson said.

Ford India plans to utilise the plant to expand its exports from the country.

With new facility in place, the company plans to dispatch vehicles to over 50 global markets.

Currently it exports to around global 35 markets.