Great
Wall Motor (GWM), a global SUV manufacturer based in China has signed an MOU
with the Maharashtra government to set up a state-of-the-art automotive
manufacturing facility in Talegaon, committing an investment of US $ 1 billion
that would generate employment for over 3000 people over a phased manner.
Recently
in January this year, GWM had signed an agreement to acquire the Talegaon plant
from General Motors. It may be recalled that General Motors of the US had two
plants in India, one in Halol in Gujarat and the other in Talegaon in
Maharashtra. While the latter has been bought by GWM, the former was bought by
another company MG Motor (owned by China’s SAIC).
Currently,
GWM owns Haval, GWM EV and GWM Pickup brands. The products cover traditional
fuel-powered, pure electric, hybrid and other new energy models, and now GWM is
actively developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. At present, GWM has more than
91 holding subsidiaries worldwide with 10 R&D centres in 7 countries,
including India, the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, and
Austria. It has 14 global manufacturing facilities.
The
memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of Chief Minister of
Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to India.
The
automotive manufacturing facility in Talegaon, Maharashtra will be equipped
with latest world-class technology and along with the R&D centre in
Bengaluru and will generate employment for over 3000 people in phased manner.
The
signing in ceremony was done via a virtual meeting between James Yang -
President, and Parker Shi - Managing Director, of Indian subsidiary of GWM, along
with Sun Weidong – Chinese Ambassador and Minister of Industries, Govt. of
Maharashtra, Subhash Desai in the presence of the state Chief Minister.
Commenting
on this commemorative feat, Parker Shi, said, “We would like to thank the
Maharashtra government for extending full support and helping us foster a long
and mutually beneficial cooperation that hopefully will turn out to be a great
business proposition for both. This would be a highly automated plant in
Talegaon with advanced robotics technology integrated in many of the production
processes. Overall we are committed to US $ 1 billion of investment in India in
a phased manner, which is directed towards manufacturing world class
intelligent & premium products, R&D centre, building supply chain and providing
jobs to over 3000 people in a phased manner.”
Strategically
located in Talegaon Industrial Park, Maharashtra, it covers an area of around
300 acres and is close to the expressway. It is about 45 kilometers from Pune
city and about 100 kilometers from Mumbai Port.
The
Talegaon factory has facilities like logistics distribution center, training
center, project management building, administrative office building and public
facilities centre.
GWM
is fully committed towards the growth story on the Indian automobile industry
and also as a responsible entity is standing with India to fight the pandemic
and its ill effects. In a recently undertaken activity, GWM distributed items
of personal hygiene and dry ration kits, to support households in need in various
parts of Pune. GWM, through this initiative has made a sincere endeavour to
provide both support and emotional strength to a large population of needy
people & migrant workers in many parts of Pune.