India’s largest car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd and Japanese auto major Suzuki Motor Corporation have separately initiated due diligence to set up a dedicated facility for automobile exports in Hazira and Kandla, respectively.

At a recent meeting held in the Prime Minister’s Office, the shipping ministry informed T.K.A. Nair, principal secretary to the PM, that Suzuki would soon send a team of experts to study the suitability of Tekra (Tuna) in Kandla port as the site to develop a dedicated facility. Maruti has also started discussions with Hazira Port Authority for a similar facility.

According to government officials, an independent team of experts will undertake a comparative study between the Hazira and Kandla ports. A final decision would then be taken on the location of the dedicated facility in consultation with the shipping ministry, they said.

India expects automobile exports to cross 4 lakh units from 2009-10. While Nissan has decided to join Renault and Mahindra to set up a joint production facility in India to manufacture and export 2 lakh units, Suzuki and Maruti are gearing up to export another 2 lakh units to Europe from the latter half of 2008.

Suzuki is producing a brand new car in the A-segment at Maruti’s Manesar plant and will supply 50,000 units to Nissan. This partnership between Suzuki and Nissan remains unchanged despite the latter’s decision to join the Renault and Mahindra joint production scheme in India. In addition, Maruti and Suzuki will produce another 1 lakh cars of the same model for export to Europe. In a letter to the PMO, Maruti managing director Jagdish Khattar said another 50,000 units of other models would also be exported.

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