Ford to set up $1bn plant in Gujarat

US auto giant Ford on Thursday chose Gujarat over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to set up a $1 billion (over Rs 4,000 crore) car plant next to Tata Motors’ Nano factory in Sanand, about 25 km west of Ahmedabad. Ford India, Indian subsidiary of the Detroit-based carmaker, will manufacture 2.4 lakh cars and 2.7 lakh engines every year from its Sanand facility which will come up over 460 acres of government land. The plant will be operational by 2014, when it will provide direct employment to 5,000 people besides helping 40,000 persons in an indirect manner. While government land has been given to Ford India for about Rs 1,100 per sq m, at par with the current market rate, the company has also been offered electricity duty and value-added tax exemptions for the next five years. The current ‘jantri’ rate, or the government benchmark of realty rates, is Rs 700 per sq m in the area. The concessions are similar to those offered to Tata Motors, say officials. This is a shot in the arm for the state vying for the title of ‘India’s Detroit’ — while GM and Tata Motors run car plants here, Maruti Suzuki and PSA Peugeot Citroen are at advanced stages of talks with the state government.