Ford,state to hold talks for car plant

US car major Ford will hold discussions with the Gujarat government next week to set up a manufacturing plant in the state,the second in the country after Chennai,government officials said.

Gujarat government has invited officials of Ford India for a meeting in Hyderabad on the sidelines of its roadshow on December 3. They are likely to explore possibility of the company setting up a plant in the state, a state industry department official said on condition of anonymity.

Ford India president and Managing Director Michael Boneham declined to confirm the development.

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We had announced to launch eight models in India in the next five year. Accordingly,we will expand our capacities and we are exploring various options,but nothing has been finalised, said Boneham.

All the names of locations that are being mentioned at present are speculative. We will announce when a decision is finalised, he added.

Ford had this August announced plans to launch eight new models in India in a bid to tap the burgeoning domestic car market,which is over 15 lakh units annually.

The company has already invested 500 million dollars to expand its production capacity to two lakh units annually at the Chennai facility.

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It also has an engine manufacturing unit,with an installed annual capacity of 2.5 lakh units.

Ford has so far invested over 1 billion dollars in India in the last one decade.

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