BASF Catalysts India Pvt. Ltd. is going in for an expansion of its mobile emissions catalysts production capacity here.
As part of the plan, it will construct a new 47,000-sq. metre facility. This will come up in Mahindra World City near here.
Also, the company is planning to shift the existing operational unit at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai to the new site once it goes functional.
Construction work at the new site will commence this month. And, the facility is expected to go on stream in the first quarter of 2015.
Upon completion and consequent to consolidation of production activity, a total of nine manufacturing lines will be housed in the new operating site.
The facility will produce light-duty, heavy-duty and motorcycle emissions control catalysts to meet the growing market demand and customer technology needs. At full capacity, the site is expected to employ around 300 people.
A company spokesperson declined to divulge the financial details of the expansion plan.
“The pending expansion of Bharat Stage IV (Euro IV equivalent) emission control regulations in India combined with overall vehicle production growth will drive a significant increase in demand for our advanced emission control solutions,” said Anup Kothari, Vice-President, Mobile Emissions Catalysts, Asia-Pacific.
Regional hub“BASF is investing to more than double our manufacturing capacity in India to help customers meet these emerging needs.
“At the same time, this expansion project will allow us to establish Chennai as our regional production hub to serve the fast-growing motorcycle manufacturing markets in India and ASEAN,” he added.
