Yamaha on fast track, plans third plant in India.

The inauguration of its Chennai plant is still a couple of months away but Yamaha is already contemplating its third facility in India.

The Japanese automaker has a unit in Surajpur, Uttar Pradesh, which can produce one million bikes and scooters annually. Capacity at the second plant in Chennai will be increased in phases to 1.8 million units by 2018.

'By this time, we should have a third unit coming up to take our overall numbers to over four million units by 2020,' a top company official told Business Line. In the process, India will emerge Yamaha's largest region for production of two-wheelers, ahead of Indonesia and Vietnam.

According to the official, the western region of the country would be the ideal location for the third plant. 'We already have operations in the north while Chennai will fill up the void in the south. The west is the best bet going forward,' he said.

It is here that Gujarat could end up bagging the Yamaha mandate for the new plant. It is already gearing up to play host to top brands such as Ford, Suzuki, Honda (two-wheelers and cars) and Hero MotoCorp. Gujarat is also quickly emerging as an alternative to Maharashtra as an auto hub in the west. .


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