Honda launches production from new Rajasthan plant

Honda Cars India rolled out the first car - an Amaze sedan – from its new plant at Tapukara in Alwar, Rajasthan.

The Tapukara facility is Honda's second in India and has an annual production capacity of 1,20,000 units -- the same as its other plant in Greater Noida. It will help ease some of the delivery backlog. Initially though, the plant will run a single shift and produce only 60,000 cars per annum. With that, Honda now has a combined installed production capacity of 2,40,000 units per year in India.

Built at an investment of Rs3,526 crore, the Tapukara plant is spread over an area of 450 acres and employs more than 3,200 people. It has a flexible assembly line which means it can produce any of the Honda products. The fully integrated plant can perform a vast number of functions such as forging, press shop, powertrain shop, weld shop, paint shop, plastic moulding, engine assembly, frame assembly and engine testing facility.

The new plant is expected to help Honda ease some of the delivery backlog on models like the Amaze (which still commands a waiting period of 3-4 weeks on some variants) and the new City diesel.

Speaking on the occasion, Hironori Kanayama, president and chief executive, Honda Cars India, said, "The beginning of car production from our second plant is a significant milestone for HCIL. With overwhelming response to our current models like Honda Amaze and all-new City and promising future line-up, we are ready to cater to the strong demand for Honda cars from our customers in India."

The inaugural production ceremony was attended by Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Yasuhisa Kawamura, minister and deputy chief of mission in the Japanese embassy in India.

During the current fiscal year, HCI set a new record of crossing 1 lakh unit sales for the first time in a financial year by selling 101,370 units in the 13 April 14 January period, registering a growth of 78 per cent over the same period last year.