With Maruti Suzuki aiming to increase its exports from India eight-fold to 400,000 units, it has started scouting for a port site in Gujarat. Among the sites on its radar are Hazira, Kandla and Maroli.
Shipping secretary AK Mohapatra told DNA Money that the company was targeting Gujarat because of its easy accessibility from the company’s manufacturing base in Haryana. “They are looking for a space of 70,000 sq metres to begin with and the requirement can go up further depending on their capacity,” he said.
Suzuki had last month announced fresh investment to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore in India.
This money will be over and above the Rs 6,000 crore investment SMC and Maruti have already committed to India till 2010. The fresh investment will flow into the new car plant Maruti is commissioning at Manesar and the diesel engine facility coming up alongside.
While stating that the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai was not on the company’s list of proposed sites, Mohapatra said the company was more keen on Gujarat.
While Hazira and Kandla have good ports, Maroli is a greenfield site for which the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) is looking for private investment. The GMB has already prepared an engineering pre-feasibility report for the project that is estimated to cost Rs 600 crore in the first phase.
Maroli is in Valsad district, about 11 km from Umergaon in South Gujarat on the Arabian Sea.
Sources said the Gujarat government-owned available land at Maroli was far in excess of the company’s requirement. Maroli is about 21 km away from NH 8, which links directly to the company’s plant in Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana. A broad gauge railway link is also available just 9 km away from the port site.
The site also has water depth of around 10 metres which, according to Mohapatra, is the requirement of the company.
Shipping secretary AK Mohapatra told DNA Money that the company was targeting Gujarat because of its easy accessibility from the company’s manufacturing base in Haryana. “They are looking for a space of 70,000 sq metres to begin with and the requirement can go up further depending on their capacity,” he said.
Suzuki had last month announced fresh investment to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore in India.
This money will be over and above the Rs 6,000 crore investment SMC and Maruti have already committed to India till 2010. The fresh investment will flow into the new car plant Maruti is commissioning at Manesar and the diesel engine facility coming up alongside.
While stating that the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai was not on the company’s list of proposed sites, Mohapatra said the company was more keen on Gujarat.
While Hazira and Kandla have good ports, Maroli is a greenfield site for which the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) is looking for private investment. The GMB has already prepared an engineering pre-feasibility report for the project that is estimated to cost Rs 600 crore in the first phase.
Maroli is in Valsad district, about 11 km from Umergaon in South Gujarat on the Arabian Sea.
Sources said the Gujarat government-owned available land at Maroli was far in excess of the company’s requirement. Maroli is about 21 km away from NH 8, which links directly to the company’s plant in Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana. A broad gauge railway link is also available just 9 km away from the port site.
The site also has water depth of around 10 metres which, according to Mohapatra, is the requirement of the company.
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