Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi

Chennai’s place as India’s automobile manufacturing hub got even more cemented after Renault Nissan committed to invest Rs 5300 crore in the state to expand its operations and generate some 2,000 well-paying jobs in the near future.

The new investment will see the development of six new models from the Renault and Nissan stables that are envisaged as part of the expansion of manufacturing capacity of the automobile global majors in Chennai, which hosts other car brands like Hyundai and around which ancillary industry has sprung up, making Tamil Nadu the automobile hub of the Indian subcontinent.

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For this expansion project, it is proposed to make an initial investment of around $600 million USD (₹5,300 crore) to support the new projects to be located at the Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre in Chennai.

Chief Minister MK Stalin was personally present at the signing in ceremony, where he recalled the contribution of his own father, M Karunanidhi, as the CM in securing an investment of Rs 13,000 crore when Renault-Nissan started operations at its Oragadam plant in 2010. Now, expansion of the company’s capacity will create more jobs and cement Chennai’s place as the automobile capital of India, Stalin said.

At present, the Chennai facility employs 15,000 people directly and the state has been one of the mainstays in ensuring that Tamil Nadu remains the automotive capital of India and an important hub for manufacturing of automobiles and auto components and automobile design as well,” said S Krishnan, additional Chief Secretary in the industries department of the government who was also present at the ceremony.

The MoU is the natural progression from the last week’s announcement from the Renault- Nissan – Mitsubishi Alliance of creating “new high-value operational projects.” Its future operations in India were outlined to media persons on Monday. For the first time, the Nissan line up in India will reflect our global power in high quality SUVs and EVs, bringing greater value to our employers, customers and communities,” said Guillaume Cartier, chairperson for Nissan’s Africa, Middle. East, India, Europe and Oceania region.

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“Renault and Nissan are fully committed to the Indian market, committed to electrifying the Indian market and committed to minimising our impact on the environment. India has a key role in the R&D worldwide, said Francois Provost, International Development & Partnerships Renault Group and managing director of Alliance Purchasing Organisation. “This project together with Nissan is the first concrete output of the new Alliance ambitions realised on February 6,” he said.

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