Haryana government has given clearance to 900 acre land in Sonipat district’s Kharkhoda town for Maruti Suzuki to setup three new manufacturing plants, announced Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar after chairing the meeting of Haryana Enterprises Promotion Center on Saturday (13 November).
Maruti has been planning to shift from Gurugram for a while now due to congestion, traffic issues and inability to further expand it’s 300 acre facility due to lack of space but its plans got delayed due to Covid-19. Even since the company declared its intention to move out from its original home, Haryana government has been trying to woo it to not leave the state and setup its plant in another district.
Last year, Maruti Suzuki India chairman Bhargava had declared that “Many other states are also writing for that matter. But we will only stay in Haryana.” The State government had given three options for land parcels but the Kharkhoda one was finalised by the company as it’s on the Delhi-Haryana border.
“Clearance has been given for setting up a new Maruti plant on about 900 acres of land at Kharkhoda in Sonipat,” Khattar said. “This has been discussed in detail with the senior management. Along with this, the company has been given SGST (State goods and services tax) reimbursement for 15 years by the government. Besides this, the production will be further increased by the Maruti company, which will give a boost to the auto industry,” he told the media persons.
The Kharkhoda facility will consist of three plants, each having annual production capacity of 2.5 lakh units, and the company intends to invest Rs 18,000 crore here. Though it will be years before the transition out of Gurugram can be completed. “It is not happening in a hurry. We have to first set up at the new location. It will take at least three years before one unit (at the new plant) becomes operational,” Bhargava had said earlier. Currently, the company’s two plants, 300 acre one at Gurugram and 600 acre facility at Manesar, have annual production capacity of 15.5 lakh units.
There were apprehensions that Maruti may exit Haryana especially after the state assembly passed a law mandating 75 per cent quota for locals in private sector jobs. However, the final act that will come into enforcement from 15 January, reduced the upper limit of gross monthly salary or wages from the originally envisaged limit of Rs 50,000 to Rs 30,000.
Last week, Bhargava said that while the industry would have been “happier without the reservation policy”, the positive response by the government after discussions with industry has prompted the company to shift within the state. Fundamentally, Maruti Suzuki can say that the (Haryana) government has responded positively,” he had said.