Gujarat Chief Minister Narenrda Modi inaugurated a new plant of Hitachi Home and Life Solutions, the Indian unit of Japan’s Hitachi Appliance Inc in Kadi some 40 km from from Ahmedabad. This Rs. 50 crore plant will manufacture air-conditioners and chillers. More investment is in pipeline to expand operations at the unit.

After inaugurating the plant, Chief Minister said: “Japanese investors, who take a decision after detailed planning and conducting thorough studies, are finding Gujarat a place to set up industries, is a recognition of the state and its people.”

“It’s my dream to make Gujarat a great financial power. The day will come when Gujarat, along with Japan and Singapore, will dominate the Asian economy,” Modi said after inaugurating the new plant of Hitachi Home and Life Solutions India, a subsidiary of Japan’s Hitachi Appliances.

Modi said the industrial corridor, being developed in cooperation with the Japanese government is a golden opportunity for development.

The 1,483-km dedicated freight corridor will pass through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and the National Capital Region (NCR) with end terminals at Dadri in the NCR and Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai. The project aims to double employment, triple industrial output and quadruple exports from the region in five years.

India and Japan have signed a deal to build the DMIC at a proposed investment of $90 billion.

Modi said once the project is complete, a clutch of industrial projects will come up along the corridor, with Gujarat gaining the most. The chief minister also said Gujarat was progressing in all sectors, particularly in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. “When the green revolution happened, Gujarat was not in the picture. But now, the agricultural sector in the state is booming. Gujarat has achieved over 10 percent agricultural growth, while the national average is less than two percent,” he added. “The state would take a quantum leap in socio-economic development by 2010 when we will celebrate 50 years of the formation of Gujarat”.

About the unit

According to Hitachi managing director Shinichi Izuka, the new unit would initially manufacture commercial air-conditioners and will expand the manufacturing facility in two years by investing another Rs.50 crore to produce chillers.

Hitachi signed the agreement with the Gujarat government Jan 13 during the Vibrant Gujarat global investors’ meet to set up the second Kadi plant, said Hitachi Home and Life’s business planning head Gurmeet Singh, adding: “We were one of the first investors at this year’s Vibrant Gujarat meet.”

The new facility, sprawled over 85,000 square metres and set up under eight months, will create 200 new jobs, taking the total strength of Hitachi’s Kadi unit to 740.

Asked why Hitachi Home and Life was expanding its business during the slowdown, Singh said the domestic AC market was still growing.

“We sold over 120,000 air-conditioners in the first six months this year as compared to 97,000 in the same period last year,” claimed Singh.

With the new plant, the company is planning to increase its production capacity to 400,000 units per annum. It is also aiming at a 10 percent increase in turnover.

Last year, Hitachi Home and Life posted a turnover of Rs.520 crore.

Apart from Kadi, the company has another production facility in Jammu. At present, the total installed capacity is 250,000 units.

Complete coverage on GujaratMoney.Com