Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a part of the USD 19 billion Mahindra Group based in India, and Ideal Motors Ltd, will break ground on August 17 for a motor vehicle assembly plant in Welipanna with eye on the export market. The total investment will be over Rs. 3 billion.
Vice President, Head of International Operations - AFS (South Asia), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Sanjay Jadhav, in an interview with ‘Daily News’ said that Sri Lanka was one of Mahindra’s top three export markets and this was why they had decided to invest in Sri Lanka. “We have a strong vision for growth in Sri Lanka and this move is an integral part of that plan.”
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| Founder and Executive Chairman Ideal Group, Nalin Welgama |
Ideal Motors Limited will hold a 65% stake while Mahindra will hold a 35% stake. Founder and Executive Chairman Ideal Group, Nalin Welgama, said that the new facility will not only contribute to human capital development, but will also enable collective development of local automotive components manufacturers to international standards under the global expertise of Mahindra.
“We will manufacture the Mahindra KUV100, a mini 1,200 cc SUV, in this plant. This model is already marketed in India and over 100,000 KUV100s have been sold to date. In Sri Lanka the KUV will be sold at Rs. 3.2 million.”
“We are planning to rollout 100 units per month and later expanded to 1,000 units per month. Our final target in one year is 40, 000 per year. The assembly process will see over 35% value addition in Sri Lanka using locally manufactured, tyres from CEAT, barites from EXCIDE, seats, radiators, exhaust pumps and other material and this number would increase.” Welgama said that they will first look at re exports to India and then to Africa from the Sri Lanka plant.
“Next we will look towards the assembly of the double cabs and then an electric car. Currently the assembly plant will offer 100 direct jobs and this too would increase by around 40% annually. Most of them have been trained in India.”
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