Maruti’s Dzire new plant near dholera Port?

f Maruti is able to set up plant near Dholera or Mundra, it will save around Rs 185 cr spent every year on transporting vehicles from Haryana to Kutch.The entry of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will turn Gujarat into an automotive hub but its first choice is not likely to be Sanand. The company would prefer to set up its plant near Dholera. The second option is Santalpur in Banaskantha, then comes Mundra Port in Kutch. If nothing works out, it may consider a unit in Sanand.

Maruti exports around 1 lakh cars to Europe and Africa every year from special car export unit at Mundra Port
Maruti is already exporting around 1 lakh cars to Europe and Africa every year from the special car export unit at Mundra Port in Kutch. A plant here will boost its export potential and make the sales in west and south India more cost-effective. Currently, all the cars are made in Haryana and transported by road to Mundra Port. The transportation cost per car comes up to Rs 25,000. “If Maruti is able to set up a plant near Dholera, it will be able to save around Rs 185 crore spent on transporting vehicles every year,” say sources.

Santalpur is situated near the Rann of Kutch.

The price of land is very cheap here. This might be a point in its favour as Maruti may get little concession if it buys land at Sanand.

The company’s managing director Shinzo Nakanishi and chairman RC Bhargava had met Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday with a proposal to set up a plant in a 500-acre plot with capacity to produce 1 million cars per annum.

If finalised, Maruti will be the third car manufacturer to have units in Gujarat after General Motors, which has a production unit at Halol in Panchamahals district, and Tata Motors which had shifted its Nano car manufacturing unit from West Bengal to Sanand.