Maruti Plant Inauguration by India, Japan PMs 'Greatest Honour': T. Suzuki

Pune: Suzuki Motor Corporation President Toshihiro Suzuki on Friday said the joint opening of Maruti Suzuki’s new factory at Kharkhoda in Haryana by the Prime Ministers of India and Japan was “the greatest possible honour for India’s biggest carmaker.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi virtually inaugurated Maruti Suzuki India's fourth manufacturing facility at Kharkhoda in Haryana on Thursday, during the India-Japan Joint Economic Forum in the Capital.

"It was the greatest possible honour for Suzuki in India when both the Prime Ministers of India and Japan inaugurated our Kharkhoda plant on Thursday,” said Suzuki, who is also Representative Director of Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent of Maruti Suzuki India.

"This places even more responsibility on us to recommit and rededicate ourselves to Viksit Bharat. The foundation of this is human development. I immediately decided to visit today our institutes for road safety, Institute of Driving and Traffic Research in Bahadurgarh, and for skill development, JIM in Manesar," he noted.

Suzuki, along with Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi and senior management, visited the Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) in Manesar.

They also interacted with students and reviewed the training ecosystem that equips young talent with industry-relevant technical expertise and Japanese manufacturing practices.

JIM is a flagship skill development initiative offering vocational training aligned with advanced manufacturing requirements.

The 800-acre Kharkhoda plant has two operational manufacturing units with a combined installed capacity to produce 5 lakh cars annually, which the automaker wants to scale up to 10 lakh vehicles in phases.

Maruti Suzuki, along with suppliers, has earmarked a total investment of Rs 35,000 crore for the facility, expected to create over 21,000 direct jobs.