Volkswagen starts Rs 240 crore engine assembly plant in India

With an investment of Rs 240 crore (Euro 30 million), Volkswagen has set up a new engine assembly plant in Chakan, Pune, as an extension to its existing car manufacturing plant. The new facility also includes an engine testing lab with Cold Test station, Hot Test bench and an Engine Dynamometer.

The new Volkswagen India engine assembly plant will begin operation by assembling its recently introduced 1.5-litre TDI. This diesel engine has been specifically designed for India and is available in two states of tune -  90PS and 105PS; which powers the new Volkswagen Polo, the new Volkswagen Vento and the Skoda Rapid. Out of the 166 parts of the 1.5-litre TDI, currently 29 parts are localised and the company is hoping to take it up to 50 parts in the future. The remaining parts are imported from the Volkswagen Poland engine plant and assembled in India. Currently, VW claims to have over 70 per cent localisation in its cars. This move further deepens Volkswagen's localisation endeavours in India.

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the new Volkswagen engine assembly plant in presence of Minister of Industries, Govt. of Maharashtra - Subhash Desai; MP from Shirur - Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil; and MLA Suresh Gore. Speaking during the inauguration, CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "Volkswagen is one of the top car manufacturers in the world and they have brought their German Engineering to India. I am glad to see that the company is committed to their production operations in Chakan in Pune and is investing further for increasing manufacturing here even in difficult market situation." He added, "I hope in future Volkswagen Group can make Maharashtra an export hub for its cars globally."

Built over a total floor space of 3,450 square metre, in about 11 months with the help of Volkswagen's Engine Plant in Salzgitter, Germany and Polkowice, Poland. The company also claims that the new Chakan facility will create 260 jobs. The employees working on the engine assembly process have undergone training at VW's engine plant at Polkowice, Poland and through 'Profi-rooms' set up at the Pune plant. When fully operational the Volkswagen engine assembly plant can produce over 98,000 engines annually in a 3-shift system.

CM Fadnavis also said, "It is really encouraging to see that Volkswagen is creating so many jobs in this industrial belt. It gives me pride that you have created a facility in Maharashtra where engines from international VW Group cars can be tested."