Maruti has announced that it has completed the allotment process of an 800-acre site in Haryana, after its long-drawn talks with the state government came to a successful conclusion. The land – located in the Industrial Model Township (IMT) Kharkhoda, situated in the Sonipat district – was sanctioned by the state government in November last year.

Maruti is aiming to set up a 2,50,000-unit vehicle manufacturing plant by 2025 at the allotted site.

The carmaker has proposed to invest Rs 11,000 crore in the first phase to commission this new facility, which will have scope for capacity expansion depending on demand. Maruti, which has two plants in Haryana, has been hugely instrumental in making the entire Gurugram-Manesar belt one of India’s main automotive hubs.

While Maruti’s Gurugram facility has an annual manufacturing capacity of 7,00,000 units, the one at Manesar has an installed capacity of 8,00,000 cars. It also has the benefit of sourcing cars from parent Suzuki's wholly-owned 7,50,000-unit annual capacity plant in Gujarat.

With an order backlog of 3,25,000 units until end-April – and registering a 3 percent year-on-year growth in domestic sales to 13,31,558 units in FY2022 (FY2021: 12,93,840) and a 148 percent YoY growth in FY2022 exports, which were pegged at 235,670 units (FY21: 94,938) – Maruti is laying the building blocks for increased volumes in future.

The company is readying a midsize SUV and aims at enhancing its presence above the current 10 percent market share it has in the overall SUV segment. Moreover, Maruti is also expected to roll out its first EV – likely to be a midsize crossover – in 2025.