Ashok Leyland, the flagship of the Hinduja Group, is planning to invest up to 600 crore over the next five years in setting up new units, increasing capacity and developing new vehicles, a top official said on Friday.
"This amount will be used for capacity building, developing new platform for building modular vehicles, technology development and BS-VI testing among other things," said Vinod K. Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland. "Besides, the capex (capital expenditure) will be used for setting up new units in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Ivory Coast and Kenya. The Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai plant capacity will be doubled," he said.
"The new units in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will become operational within the next 12-18 months and it would be used for bus body building," said Nitin Seth, president, LCV, Ashok Leyland.
"We will be coming out with a new product by September to complete our product portfolio for domestic and international markets. For the short term, a capex of 400 crore has been planned," he said.
Anuj Kathuria, president, Global Trucks said the new units in Ivory Coast and Kenya would be used for assembling trucks, buses or light commercial vehicles (LCVs). The plants would be set up either as joint ventures or wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Mr. Dasari said one new product will be rolled out every quarter. At the same time, he wanted his team to give thrust on exports by selling at least one product in the international market for every product sold in the domestic market.
The company had won tenders for mine-protected vehicles and bulletproof vehicles from defence forces, he said adding that the revenue from defence sector was almost 500 crore last year.
The Hindu News
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