Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) has planned to further expand its base by increasing the production of its scooters and motorcycles at the Tapukara facility in Rajasthan that was opened in 2010. In 2011, HMSI completed its first phase of production, wherein it manufactured 600,000 units at the Tapukara facility. The company has now announced that the second phase has begun at the facility. For the second phase of operations, the company has invested over Rs. 1000 crores and doubled the production capacity to 1.2 million units, making the total annual capacity of HMSI of about 2.8 million units.
N. K. Rattan, Vice President (Sales and Marketing), Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd, said “To meet the growing demand of customers, the second phase with 0.6 million units capacity has started today, taking the total capacity to 1.2 million units. With this, we shall be able to service our customers of Activa and CB Shine in a more speedy manner.”
The manufacturing of Honda’s scooters was confined to the company’s Manesar facility. The Tapukara plant will contribute towards the production of both scooters and motorcycles, including the Activa, CB Shine and CB Twister. Honda has managed to generate more than 3,500 associates for its second assembly line at Tapukara.
Honda has always been quite conscious about the environment and has emphasised on using the green technology in its production processes. At its Tapukara plant, Honda will make use of the production technologies developed at the Manesar facility and apply advanced automation and various other procedures to improve the efficiency of the assembly line. Honda will focus on processes such as waste water recycling and rain water utilisation.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. has become the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India after Hero MotorCorp and Bajaj Auto. In the future, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd hopes to attain a production capacity of 4 million units annually. This target will only be possible when the company’s third plant in Bangalore starts functioning. It is expected to become operational in early 2013 and will have a capacity to manufacture 1.2 million units.
Regarding this, the company said that "This capacity expansion plan will increase HMSI's total annual production capacity 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, preparing HMSI for further and rapid growth of the market."
