PM Modi inaugurates India's first in-plant railway siding at Suzuki Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first automobile in-plant railway siding at the Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG) manufacturing facility. The new in-plant siding at SMG aims to reduce the carbon footprint in logistics bringing down fossil fuel consumption and reducing road congestion.

This is the first collaboration between Maruti Suzuki India and Gujarat Rail Infrastructure Development (G-RIDE). Once fully operational, the in-plant railway siding will be able to transport over 300,000 cars annually to 15 destinations across the country.

The Suzuki Motor Gujarat plant is currently building its fourth assembly line taking total production to 1 million units per annum

Speaking at the inauguration, Hisashi Takeuchi, MD and CEO - Maruti Suzuki said, "We are honoured to be part of the Prime Minister's ambitious Gati Shakti programme that fosters efficiencies in logistics. Today marks a significant milestone as we become India's first automobile company to have a railway siding facility within its manufacturing plant. As we gear to double our production capacity from 2 million units per annum to 4 million units per annum by FY31, the dispatches of vehicles from railways will also increase multifold. This in-plant railway facility reinforces our commitment towards sustainable mobility."

The new in-plant railway siding has been established as Maruti Suzuki is all set to increase production at the Gujarat facility. The automaker recently commenced construction of the fourth production line at the plant that will be operational by FY2027. The new assembly line is being built with an investment of ₹3,200 crore and will increase production to over 1 million units, up from the current 750,000 units per annum.

The Suzuki Gujarat plant was recently acquired by Maruti Suzuki India from Suzuki Motor Corporation. Japan. The board of directors gave their nod to the acquisition recently at a total purchase consideration of ₹12,841.1 crore.