Hero MotoCorp in the Final Stages for its Gujarat Plant

India's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, is going to set up its fifth manufacturing facility at Halol, Gujarat to increase its manufacturing capacity. The bike-maker has commenced the construction of its fourth plant and Global Parts Center (GPC) at Neemrana, Rajasthan recently, which will be functional by 2014.

Hero MotoCorp is in the final stages of the land acquisition at Halol, where the company has been allotted around 200 acres of land. State authorities said that the process of handing over of the land to the company having already commenced. Construction of its newest facility will be commenced in upcoming months, while the plant will get functional by the middle of 2014. Hero MotoCorp is planning to invest a sum of Rs. 1,100 Crores in the first phase of the plant, with an aim of a hefty 1.2 million two-wheelers manufacturing capacity annually, which can be further extended to 1.8 million units annually in the second phase of the operations.

Yesterday, we shared the news of Hero MotoCorp starting to export its products to 10 new markets and now we report that this factory will play a very important role in these exports. Gujarat is an ideal state for this manufacturing facility because the availability of the ports and the state is quite literally the gateway to the Africa and Latin America. Thus, Hero MotoCorp might use Gujarat’s excellent port infrastructure for its exports. The company is growing quite rapidly in the country and now plans to establish itself as a global brand; the competition, Bajaj is already doing great as a global brand and holds 10% of global market, the kind of digits that Hero also eyes.

Hero Motocorp is on a massive capacity and Research & Development (R&D) expansion that started with its split with Japanese bike maker Honda in December, 2010. The company has already invested Rs. 3,125 Crores in its four plants and Global Parts Centre till date.