HMSI expands production, second production line at Tapukara plant goes on stream

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) held a line-off ceremony on February 14 with the second phase of production operations at its second two-wheeler production plant in Tapukara Industrial Area, Rajasthan.

With the start of operations of the second phase, HMSI has invested over Rs 1,000 crore in the second plant and doubled the unit’s annual production capacity to 1.2 million units. The second assembly line is a flexible one which can manufacture both scooter and motorcycle models. HMSI will be manufacturing the 110cc Activa scooter and 110cc CB Twister and 125cc CB Shine motorcycles from this plant, in addition to the existing Manesar plant. Speaking at the inauguration, N K Rattan, vice-president, sales and marketing, said: “This plant initially started operations on July 11, 2011 with annual production capacity of 0.6 million units. With this capacity expansion, we will be able to service Activa and CB Shine customer in a more speedy manner.” Utilising production technologies refined at the first plant as a starting point, HMSI has improved process ergonomics, employed more advanced automation, and introduced die casting in-house along with aluminium painting and other measures to increase the operating efficiency at the plant. It is also more environmentally responsible plant and pro-actively reduces energy consumption during production by employing environment-friendly measures such as rain water utilisation and waste water recycling.

HMSI has targeted sales of 21.05 lakh units in 2011-12, a 27 percent growth over the 16.56 lakh units sold in 2010-11. The company current has 1364 outlets in India, comprising 475 dealerships, 462 branches/sub-dealers, and 427 authorised service centres.

The company, it must be noted, has in September last year announced its third plant which is to come up in Bangalore. This facility is scheduled to become operational in the first half of 2013, with annual production capacity of 1.2 million units. When it goes on stream, HMSI’s total annual production capacity will stand augmented to 4 million units, including 1.6 million units at the first plant, 1.2 million units at the second plant and 1.2 million units at the third plant.