Gujarat saw Ford’s Entry after Maruti Success

The world’s fourth largest car manufacturer, Ford Motors is planning to invest Rs 5,000 crore to set up a three-lakh cars-per-annum plant in Gujarat. The Detroit-based, Ford Motors is geared up to drive into Gujarat after Maruti Suzuki’s grand success.

This news has came up from sources close to the development as the Ford officials and state government authorities are tight-lipped. According to sources, an announcement is likely to happen sometime this month. The state government has identified 400 acres of land near Sanand, where last year Tata Motors commissioned its Nano plant. In addition, another 100 acres will be set aside for components units.

Ford India, which is the US car-maker’s Indian subsidiary, has already managed a Rs 1,700-crore manufacturing plant at Maraimalai Nagar, 45 km from Chennai, which has a peak capacity of two lakh units per annum.

This new development is neither confirmed nor denied by Ford India. The finalization of Ford on Gujarat may boost up the state’s dreams of becoming an auto hub. Whereas General Motors and Tata Motors already have their units in the state, companies like Maruti Suzuki are likely to finalize Gujarat to set up a one million car per annum plant soon.

There are several reasons behind this grand decision and among all the reasons, the potential one is that the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, nearly 40 % of the corridor passes through Gujarat and ports like Kandla and Mundra are seen as major attractions for the manufacturing sector.