Suzuki investing $323 million in new plant in India: report

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation will invest around $323 million (30 billion yen) in a new plant to raise current production capacity at its Indian outfit Maruti Suzuki by 30 per cent, a Japanese newspaper report said.

Suzuki Motor Corp chairman Osamu Suzuki, who is on a three-day visit to India, is also expected to have met union minister of heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh and Haryana chief minister Bhupindar Singh Hooda on Friday to appraise them on the company's investment and expansion plans.

The new factory, possibly at the company's Indian facility at Manesar, is expected to add production capacity by 300,000 vehicles annually, the Nikki newspaper said.

Maruti Suzuki India, majority owned by the Japanese firm, is also investing up to Rs1,500 crore ($30 million) in building test tracks and an R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana.

Maruti Suzuki has about 55 per cent of the country's car market. The company also reported record exports in the first quarter of the current financial year. The company is boosting annual production capacity in India by 30 per cent, the report said.

Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava had, earlier this week, said the company was considering plans to expand production capacity.

Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki is expected to detail the company's India plans at its headquarters in Hamamatsu, outside Tokyo today.

(Also see: Update: Suzuki not to raise production in India says Osamu Suzuki)