Toyota opens new diesel engine plant in India

Toyota Industries Engine India (TIEI), a joint venture between Kirloskar Systems Ltd (KSL) and Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan (TICO), has opened a new engine production plant at Jigani Industrial Area, Bengaluru.

The TIEI state-of-the-art facility, set up with an investment of Rs 1,100 crore, is Toyota’s first GD engine plant in India and its third globally, after Japan and Thailand. It will manufacture high-performance Global Diesel (GD) engines – 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre and 2GD-FTV – 2.4-litre engines – which are claimed to be more fuel efficient *+13%) and more powerful too (+47%).

The 2.4-litre and 2.8-litre engines equip Manual Transmission and Automatic Transmission models of the recently launched Innova Crysta respectively. The 2.4-litre 2GD-FTV engine is claimed to be 47% more powerful and 13% more fuel efficient. The 2.8-litre 1GD-FTV engine is 71% more powerful and 7% more fuel efficient, in comparison to the earlier used 2KD engine.

The engine plant has a production capacity of 108,000 units per annum and manufactures in compliance with BS 4 / Euro 4 emission standards with an additional provision to upgrade to BS 5 and 6 / Euro 5 and 6 with minimum investment and lead time in the future.

L-R: Akira Onishi, President, Toyota Industries Corp, Japan; R V Deshpande, minister for Large & Medium Industries & Infrastructure Development, Karnataka; Siddaramaiah, chief minister of Karnataka; Anant G Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; and Mr. Vikram S Kirloskar, vice chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and director, Toyota Industries Engine India.

The new plant was inaugurated by Siddaramaiah, chief minister of Karnataka; Anant G Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; in the presence of Toshiyuki Mizushima, senior managing officer, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan; Akira Onishi, president, Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan; Taku Yamamoto, chairman, Toyota Industries Engine India; Kiyotsugu Kurimoto, managing director, Toyota Industries Engine India; Vikram S Kirloskar, vice chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and director, Toyota Industries Engine India; T R Parasuraman, deputy managing director, Toyota Industries Engine India; A Tachibana, managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Shekar Viswananthan, vice- chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

Speaking at the plant opening, Anant G Geete said: “The Indian automobile industry is one of the biggest contributors to India’s GDP. The government of India is equally concerned about increasing pollution. In this regard, we will take a comprehensive view about the current diesel ban on vehicles above 2000cc, both on the development and environment front along with its impact on the investment climate.”

T R Parasuraman, deputy managing director, Toyota Industries Engine India, said: "TIEI aims to become India's No. 1 engine manufacturing plant by contributing to the country’s manufacturing mandate. With the new state-of-art engine plant, we at TIEI remain committed to the growth of the country’s economy. We are strongly focused towards the Make in India initiative of the government of India and believe that this new engine project will add to achieve global manufacturing standards in the country. This project has been implemented with big support from the government of Karnataka.”

Commenting on the new initiative, Vikram S Kirloskar said, “Today is indeed a proud day for all of us at Toyota Industries Engine India, as we unveil our first ever diesel engine plant here in Bengaluru. The introduction of the GD series engines not only equips superior technology but also meet the new fuel efficiency policies mandate in the country. We realise diesel engine technology will remain an integral part of every automaker with strict fuel efficiency norms being implemented in India, therefore this engine project will strengthen our diesel business in the country marking Toyota’s first diesel manufacturing plant in India.”

“We hope to grow together with the local community and ramp up the process of manufacturing cars in India with readily available diesel engines made from our new Bengaluru plant,” he added.