[TusharK]

According to media reports, Maruti Suzuki is planning to relocate its 35-year old factory in Gurgaon to a new location. The plant is currently located in the heart of the city and hundreds of trucks enter and leave the premises daily, which is causing a lot of traffic congestion.



Maruti Suzuki has sought 1,292 acres of land at Sohna on the outskirts of Gurgaon. It is said that the area will also house Maruti's component vendors. The relocation will be done in a phased manner and the company is currently coming up with a plan to move out of the old factory without disrupting production.

The Gurgaon plant has an annual capacity of 7 lakh units. Maruti has another manufacturing unit at Manesar just outside Gurgaon. It has a production capacity of 8 lakh units. The company is planning to setup a new factory in Gujarat to achieve its sales target of 50 lakh vehicles by 2030.

Source: Business Standard

Link to Team-BHP News

[anjan_c2007]

This was bound to happen sooner or later. In July 2011, I was in Gurgaon for a few weeks and just out of curiousity went around the Gurgaon plant (did not go inside at all) and had a good view from outside the compound, sometimes just peeping into the gates and clicking pictures the same time. A thread that I had created on teambhp would give a pictorial review of the place. A short, vivid note on the observations is also appended. They were making the mass volume cars viz. Wagon R, Alto, 800 (then in 2011) and Omni then in Gurgaon. The newer models viz. Ritz, SX 4, A Star and perhaps the Kizashi were being manufactured in Manesar.

The link for a flashback here :
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-pictures.html (Indian Automobile Factory Pictures)

The Gurgaon plant was in a desolate place and the small town Gurgaon was selected for its proximity to Delhi by its founder Mr Sanjay Gandhi. He used to drive down himself on his green Matador to Gurgaon. This was around 1974-75, when Maruti began to conceptualise about producing a people's car. The ownership was in private hands. Emergency was declared in June 1975. Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) was working on a prototype ( the oldest model has been often seen in pictures) . An imported VW Beetle engine was plonked into this microcar. It could not endure the then ARAI/ VRDE tests and one car had turned turtle on their test tracks. As emergency was declared, Mr Sanjay Gandhi was obliged by Chief Ministers of neignbouring states, who favoured MUL with orders for bus bodies. Old road rollers were refurbished and sold to these state governments for MUL's survival.

A village enroute to Gurgaon had some cattle and poultry that would squat on the highway (Delhi- Jaipur). During the emergency, this village was relocated as Mr Sanjay Gandhi felt that he could not keep up his speed on his Matador without decelerating, due to the obstructions posed by this village. All these acts were treated as excesses during the emergency and formed a part of the terms of reference for the Shah Commission for enquiry on the emergency excesses.

After the death of Mr Sanjay Gandhi in a flying accident on 23/06/1980 near the Safdarjung airport, the MUL was nationalised (the Govt of India held a major equity) and efforts were begun to scout for collaborators. Renault, Volkswagen and Suzuki were among the bidders and Suzuki won their bid. Mr V. Krishnamurthy a retired IAS officer was appointed Chairman and soon Mr R.C. Bhargava too came along. The latter is now Chairman.

Anecdotes apart, as I had mentioned in 2011 that the transport trucks were all parked to the extreme left corner of the roads, as will be observed in the pictures. But these have to move through the crowded Gurgaon streets while transporting the cars or during their fro journey back to the factory. Hence, relocation of the Gurgaon plant would have become necessary.

The plant has a very colourful history and has been the centre of many controversies during the emergency and even very recently it was in the news, when workers resorted to violence and did some criminal acts. Real estate prices are skyhigh and this land is in the heart of Gurgaon (Gurugram now) town.

The MSIL Gurgaon plant will be missed however !

[Dry Ice]

It would relieve some of the traffic problems in and around the plant for sure. Commuting through this stretch is a nightmare whenever there is a shift change. Mornings and afternoons especially.

On a related note, cars are often driven out of here by NCR/GGN dealerships to their yards. Customers may see a higher odo figures now before delivery or will they start shipping?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The plant is currently located in the heart of the city and hundreds of trucks enter and leave the premises daily, which is causing a lot of traffic congestion.

That sounds like a weird reason to me. Why don't they simply move the truck transportation to off-peak hours or at night?

There is definitely more to this than meets the eye. Manufacturers only focus on the bottom-line, nothing else. I don't think there has been any case of a manufacturer voluntarily relocating its factory (only one that comes to mind is how Tata was forced to move from West Bengal to Gujarat).

Maruti Suzuki has sought 1,292 acres of land at Sohna on the outskirts of Gurgaon.

Is this bigger? Are they getting it at a throwaway price? If so, that's the real reason.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Is this bigger? Are they getting it at a throwaway price? If so, that's the real reason.

Much much bigger. Easily 3-4 times bigger.

Also, who benefits from re-using the current factory land for some other purpose ? It is at a very good location, so could have been a factor.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Renault, Volkswagen and Suzuki were among the bidders and Suzuki won their bid.

On a side note, how different would the Indian automobile scene have been if VW had won that bid!

I don't think the plant will be missed much by any that live near or commute from the roads around the plant. It as an oasis in 2004-5, though I'm now told gurgaon is pretty green now.

[sudev]

Maruti got easy permission for building factory in a area where high buildings are not allowed due to nearby Air Force area. further the area is now extremely crowded and despite 24/7 dispatches they are causing traffic jams.
I don't think any dealer drives out vehicles. Most of then have created stockyards nearby - less than a kilometre - where no construction is allowed and get their cars delivered there. Probably they drive away from there.
Not only Maruti is located here there are many ancillary units too. So if Maruti moved then these also will have to relocate.

[chaudh2s]

Like all media stories, this too seems to have been twisted & distorted to sensationalize. Maruti just wants to setup another plant in the vicinity of existing supplier base in Gurgaon, Manesar, and have sought land from Haryana government for that purpose. Sohna is nearby Gurgaon and the Haryana govt. has a piece of land in that area which they are likely to offer to anyone via bidding. The Gurgaon plant would still remain functional and if required could be later on used for purposes other than manufacturing cars. Regarding congestion, i'd just like to say there is no congestion due to Maruti trucks. All these trucks are allowed entry/exit after 7 or 8 PM and even then, all the intersections leading to/from the factory/ancillaries are beautifully managed by marshals, deputed by Maruti itself.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

Regarding congestion, i'd just like to say there is no congestion due to Maruti trucks. All these trucks are allowed entry/exit after 7 or 8 PM and even then, all the intersections leading to/from the factory/ancillaries are beautifully managed by marshals, deputed by Maruti itself.

I agree with your views about new factory but congestion- No, with my house bang opposite to Maruti, they allow Trucks even during the day though most of the loading happens in the night. It's a pain covering those 500 metres at that time. Even in the day, there is a lot of rush, with multiple shifts and no foot over bridge or pathways, there are hundreds of people. Then the Maruti contract buses that bring their staff. Despite being an otherwise responsible company, they have no place to let these buses park in their compound and the drivers will just park behind our complex in the open.

From what I understand, their Press shop & assembly shops are from the Eighties/ Nineties. Even some of the Engine plants are old. They will have to replace most of these and making a new factory is the most sensible option. You are correct that they won't sell the land but will have something else when they have a new plant. I expect them to have a large corporate office/ dealer training and vehicle testing track sometime in future.

Haryana Government does not want to give them the land without bidding, even though it brings a lot of money from Taxes and Jobs, they are sceptical of enquiries later on. Probably, they might give it on a long-term lease. Alternatively, they may also consider something in the Rajasthan.

[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki is all set to relocate its first plant.

Will ensure Maruti gets land for expansion in Haryana

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) is looking to strike a land deal with Maruti Suzuki India Limited and expects to mop up around Rs 3,445 crore from the sale of 1,300 acres in IMT-Sohna that would help the debt-ridden corporation.

Link