Tata Marcopolo Motors Ltd plans to set up ‘Global Bus Design Centre’ at Dharwad.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the wire harness division of Patil Electric Works at Gokul Industrial Area in Hubli, Vinay K Pathak, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Marcopolo Motors, said the plan to set up design centre is to manufacture buses of global standards.
Vinay Pathak, CEO, Tata Marcopolo Motors, Dharwad / Business Line
GLOBAL STANDARD
Currently, around 80 people are working on the design section of the unit at Belur Industrial Area. “We plan to increase the number to 250 and develop it into a global bus design centre in the coming days,” Pathak said.
At the centre, engineers would be working on improving the designs from Brazil, and the whole process is to benefit both Tatas and Marcopolo resulting in production of global standard buses.
The company so far has invested close to Rs 300 crore for its bus unit at Dharwad. Plans are there to invest another Rs 160 crore for the unit expansion to increase the production capacity.
“Of it, Rs 50 crore is being earmarked for the global bus design centre,” Pathak said.
HIGHER PRODUCTION
To a query, Pathak said the company had plans to increase production from 75 buses per day to 125 buses by June.
“This year, we have set a target of achieving Rs 700 crore turnover,” he said. He added that at present 97 per cent of the workforce at its Dharwad unit was from Karnataka and the company had 1,500 permanent employees.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Home> Companies / by The Hindu – Bureau / Hubli, November 26th, 2012