Construction starts at Hero MotoCorp’s fourth manufacturing plant in Rajasthan

Construction of Hero MotoCorp's fourth manufacturing plant and a new global parts centre (GPC)  at Neemrana in Rajasthan at an investment of Rs550 crore, has commenced.

The company said the plant, with an installed capacity of 750,000 units per annum spread over 47 acres, would provide direct employment to over 1,000 people.

"Both the facilities are expected to be operational towards the end of the financial year 2013-14," the company said in a statement, adding that the facilities would be developed at Neemrana in Rajasthan.

The GPC, which is expected to start operations  in the third quarter of financial year (2013-14), would initially employ 400 personnel.

"The state-of-the-art GPC will have automated storage and retrieval system, automated packaging and sorting system, on-line tracking of parts through warehouse management system (WMS)," the statement added.

The company is focusing on rural buyers with promotions such as free health checkups, after competition from former partner Honda Motor Co led to a fall in sales.

The New Delhi-based company, which draws over 45 per cent of its revenue from sales in non-urban areas in the world's second-largest market for the two wheelers, is organising free vehicle servicing and medical camps in over 100,000 villages around the country as it looks to bolster its presence and attract new customers, according to Anil Dua, the senior vice president for marketing and sales at Hero.