NEW DELHI: A few months back, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had estimated that total investments by the end of the decade would be to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore. But the Society now reckons that it may have been way off the mark, by being too conservative. According to the latest SIAM estimates, the automobile sector’s investment appetite has doubled to Rs 60,000 crore by 2010!
Not only Indian companies, several overseas automobile majors are also putting up fresh manufacturing capacities in the country.
Sample this: between July and December this year, several new investment proposals in automobiles have been okayed by the government. These include Nissan’s Rs 3,000 crore for manufacturing small cars in India, the Rs 4,000 crore investment proposed by the Tata Motors-Fiat joint venture and the Rs 1,600 crore that Toyota is expected to pump into India, again for its small car foray. Then, International Cars and Motors is putting in Rs 1,000 crore for a multi-utility vehicles (MUV) facility while Force Motors is investing Rs 500 crore.
German major Volkswagen has just made it clear that it will be investing Rs 2,500 crore for making cars in India and Malaysian company Naza will invest about Rs 1,160 crore for an assembly plant in the country.
These proposals are in addition to what is already known: Maruti Udyog’s Rs 6,500 crore investment in new car and engine facilities; Hyundai’s more than Rs 3,800 crore investment and Tata Motors’ Rs 2,000 crore outlay for the small car project.
General Motors (Rs 100 crore) and Ford (about Rs 350 crore) have also announced mega expansion plans even as Honda Siel has earmarked Rs 3,000 crore over the next decade for India - a sizeable chunk of this should come by 2010, since the company is also looking to enter the lucrative small car segment.
The commercial vehicle segment is also poised for big bang investments. Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors have each announced well over Rs 1,000 crore of investments in capital expenditure whereas Mahindra & Mahindra’s joint venture with International Trucks is expected to witness at least Rs 500 crore of capital investment.
Two-wheelers are also preparing for explosive growth. Suzuki has already set shop in India for two bikes. Chinese bike major Lifan and the American leisure biking legend Harley-Davidson are expected to enter the country soon. Market leader Hero Honda is looking at establishing a fourth manufacturing plant even before the third one has come up, whereas Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor are going to excise-free zones of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal for putting up new capacity.
The three-wheeler segment is also keen on expansion. All the bigwigs - Piaggio, M&M, and International Cars (Rhino) - are in expansion mode.
Source : DNA