A nationwide strike called by central trade unions saw a mixed response across India, impacting various sectors and states differently, with some areas experiencing disruptions while others remained largely unaffected.
Electronics manufacturing services firm Dixon Technologies is setting up a Rs 1,000-crore facility near Chennai and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday. The factory, which will come up at Oragadam in neighbouring Kancheepuram district, is expected to generate 5,000 jobs in the region, the state government said.
Two Japanese auto giants, Honda and Nissan, are moving towards a potential merger, but it remains unclear how their Indian operations will be immediately impacted.
'India needs many more job creators, both in manufacturing and services, to make it big.' 'For that, the red carpet must be rolled out fully and for all investors without holding back,' suggests Nivedita Mookerji.
France-based automobile manufacturer Renault and Japan-headquartered Nissan on Monday committed investments of $600 million (around Rs 5,300 crore) in the country 15 years after foraying into the Tamil Nadu automobile industry. The fresh round of investments would witness roll out of six new models between the two companies including -- two electric vehicles -- representing the two global brands, Nissan Global chief operating officer and Member, Alliance Board Ashwani Gupta said in Chennai.
The traffic tells a story. During the lockdown, it took 45 minutes to zip through the deserted 35-km stretch from Chennai to reach the automobile heart of Sriperumbudur-Oragadam, where the big names of the car industry - Hyundai Motor India, Renault-Nissan India, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Apollo Tyres, and Royal Enfield - are based.
The dispute arose after Nissan alleged that Tamil Nadu hadn't paid certain incentives under a 2008 agreement to set up a car plant at Oragadam, near Chennai.
The automaker said that production at the Renault Nissan Alliance Plant, where Nissan, Renault and Datsun brands are manufactured, had gone up by 15 per cent and was expected to increase further on the back of increasing export orders.
Japanese auto maker Nissan Motor Company on Tuesday said they were "well-on course" on introducing new products in India.
The Renault Nissan Alliance has said that its Oragadam greenfield facility near Chennai - its first in the world - will be a template for its upcoming Morocco facility, with a few changes only in the back-end engineering. The company is training 30 senior employees drawn from various verticals at its Oragadam plant.
The government of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with 35 companies that may see investment to the tune of Rs 17,141 crore, creating employment opportunities for 55,054 people. The major companies that would be coming up with fresh investments over Rs 1,000 crore in the state include JSW Renew Energy Two, TCS, ZF Wabco and Srivaru Motors among others. JSW Renew Energy Two will be coming up with a 450 megawatt (Mw) wind power generation unit at Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Dindigul and Tiruppur for Rs 3,000 crore. TCS will be coming up with its third phase of expansion at SIPCOT IT Park in Siruseri, ZF Wabco with an auto component unit at Kancheepuram for Rs 1,800 crore and a two-wheeler EV unit by Srivaru Motors for Rs 1,000 crore at Coimbatore.
The company, which is setting up a Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) car manufacturing plant at Oragadam along with its Japanese partner, has said it is targeting 70,000 units over next four to five years.
It is learnt that the state government is likely to sign a memorandum of understanding with the partnering companies this Monday.
The hatch competes with cars such as Maruti Alto and Hyundai i10.
From the new facility, buses would be rolled out from the second quarter of 2015
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Tuesday launched new industrial and MSME policies aimed at providing further impetus to industrial growth by attracting more investments and also offering sops for development in the industrially backward districts.
For Nissan, Datsun is something of a legacy brand and the current launch marks its return to the market after nearly three decades.
The entry-level car, under the popular Datsun brand, is aimed at tapping the first-time car buyers.
The factory is likely to come up beside the current Renault-Nissan factory at Oragadam, near Chennai, according to reports.
Production of this model will commence in May 2010 in India.
French carmaker Renault would launch its first sedan -- Influence -- in India by 2011, a top company official said on Wednesday.
The new global Sedan, 'which is the second product after the launch of Micra from Nissan stable', would be displayed at the eighth China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition, scheduled to be held in December, the company said.
French car major Renault is set to launch five new cars in India before 2012.
The Oragadam facility is being set up by Nissan along with its joint venture partner Renault with an investment of Rs 4,500 crore spread over seven years.
The first major consignment of 3,886 Micra cars left the Ennore Port for European markets on Tuesday, Nissan Motor India said.
The first trial consignment of six cars left for Barcelona from its Oragadam plant (near Chennai) through the Ennore Port, on Monday.
As the production of Micra, the first car from Nissan-Renault, starts at the plant by the end of May, Kiminobu Tokuyama, managing director and chief executive of Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd, talks to rediff.com about the company's strategy for India, the recession and the auto sector in general.
The manufacturing facility is being set up at Oragadam, near this city. The company has planned to set up 55 dealerships by 2012. So far, the company has appointed 23 and plans to add seven more by the end of this financial year.
Japan's Nissan Motor Corporation, which is planning to manufacture small cars from its upcoming facility near here, on Friday signed an agreement with Ennore Port (EPL) to export the cars to European markets.
The company has a joint manufacturing facility at Oragadam set up with an investment of Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion).
The first automobiles from the facility would roll out in the second half of 2009, Kashub Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra group, said after signing a MoU with the Tamil Nadu government for the project.
Moser Baer, manufacturers of Compact Discs and Digital Video Discs, will be setting up a solar photovoltaic fabrication unit at Oragadam, about 40 km from Chennai, a top company official said on Monday.
Months after Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) exited a joint venture with Renault and Nissan Motor, the French and Japanese auto firms have got their car project back on the road, signing an MoU today with the Tamil Nadu government for a greenfield facility near Chennai.
A clutch of automakers including Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Mercedes Benz India, Eicher Motors, TVS Motor, and Isuzu Motors India announced they had got the clearance from the governments of the states they operate in to resume operations.
The strike, however, had no impact on production of auto majors Maruti Suzuki India, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Cars India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors India as their plants in various parts of the country functioned normally.
The development comes at a time when growing tension in US-China trade ties is forcing companies to explore alternative manufacturing sites in order to derisk operations.
Most of the hirings are, however, in the entry or junior level.
With the insistence on data centres to be onshore, entities in real estate believe there is going to be a rise in demand for specialised Grade-A commercial spaces to set these up.
Logistics, due to road conditions, continues to pose a challenge.
Royal Enfield at the moment is working on two new platforms for India and other markets. The first new bike on this platform will be the Himalayan, which is a trademark registered by the company.
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