Tata Motors to set up truck plant in Myanmar

Tata Motors today signed a turnkey contract with Myanmar Automobile & Diesel Industries Limited (MADI), an enterprise under Myanmar's ministry of industry.

The plant, which is being funded by a line of credit from the Government of India, will be set up at Magwe, approximately 480 km from Yangon, in Myanmar, a Tata Motors release said.

The plant will have manufacturing facilities like a highly flexible chassis and frame assembly line along with a cab manufacturing, painting and trimming set-up.

The plant, with a capacity of 1,000 vehicles per year, is expected to become operational by the last quarter of 2010-11. The capacity can be expanded to 5,000 units, the release said.

Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, currently has subsidiaries and associate companies operating in the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain.

Tata Motors is the market leader for commercial vehicles in India and is among the top three in passenger vehicle manufacturers. It is also the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer and the second largest bus manufacturer.

Besides acquiring the business of British brands Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors also has an industrial joint venture with Fiat in India.

With consolidated revenues of Rs70,938.85 crore ($14billion in 2008-09), Tata markets its cars, buses and trucks in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia and South America.