We had been scanning the Scania Commercial Vehicles India for last some days due to its commitment for the Indian transportation needs against the likes of Volvo. Yesterday it announced plans to manufacture about 2,500 heavy haulage trucks besides 1,000 inter-city buses and coaches annually at its facility in Narasapura here.
Scania is a part of the Volkswagen Group, and the manufacturing facility that it inaugurated yesterday in the Narasapura is the first in whole of South East Asia.
Currently the localisation is 18 per cent for trucks and 100 per cent for bus bodies. Scania will also employ over 800 people at this facility within five years. The manufacturing facility with initial investment of Rs. 250 crore was inaugurated by Karnataka’s Chief Minister, S. Siddaramaiah in the presence of Union Minister for Road and Transportation, Oscar Fernandes and Mr. Martin Lundstedt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scania Global.
The facility will serve as company’s head office and centre for all commercial operations across the country. The operations will consist of final assembly of trucks with bodywork and building of complete coaches along with a service workshop and a central parts warehouse for timely service.
“It gives me great pride to see one of the largest global companies setting up plants in Karnataka,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah. “It will not only provide an impetus to industrial growth in the region but also present significant employment opportunities to local residents. With its superior technological processes, large-scale manufacturing set-up and eco-friendly focus, the plant is a testimony to our emphasis on inspiring corporate India to reach greater heights.”
Mr. Lundstedt said the state of Karnataka is an ideal location for company’s manufacturing operations due to proximity to customers. “Today marks the beginning of a new era for us in India, and it is our largest industrial footprint in Asia so far.”
The Narasapura plant will house two manufacturing units – one for truck assembly and another for buses. Scania started production of trucks at the new facility in Narasapura during June and production trials have started for mining and off-road trucks. Production of on-road trucks will start soon and the bus rollout is planned for the first quarter of 2014.
“Today’s ceremony is extremely significant to us, “Mr. Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director of Scania Commercial Vehicle India and Senior Vice President of Scania Group.
“It illustrates our willingness to meet commitments and our ambition to provide sustainable transport solutions. I am sure this production line along with our total operating economy concept will create great quality vehicles and will be a strong witness of the Made in India label globally.”
With the country’s highway infrastructure improving and hub-and-spoke model gaining increasing acceptance, the domestic truck and bus industry is witnessing polarization.
As the growth in heavy commercial vehicles segment outperforms overall industry growth rate, Scania aims to take the way India views transportation to the next level in line with the latest world-class manufacturing practices.
