Automakers are expected to invest $8-10 billion (Rs 51,600-64,500 crore) in India over the next three-four years to set up factories and expand production in a market that is set to become the third-largest for passenger vehicles by the turn of the decade.The investment will boost production of cars, utility vehicles and vans in India by 1.3-1.5 million units a year and generate employment for 20,000-25,000 people, said industry insiders and experts. The passenger vehicles industry currently has a production capacity of more than 5.5 million, according to industry sources. While a few facilities are running below capacity, some companies are utilising India as a base for exporting vehicles.Japan’s Suzuki Motor is particularly aggressive with its investment plans, encouraged by the solid performance of Maruti, which has single-handedly driven growth in the industry in the past five years. Suzuki is likely to infuse $780 million in a third factory in Gujarat by 2020, taking its cumulative investment in the state to more than $1.5 billion. Maruti, which accounts for almost half the Indian market, will sell the vehicles manufactured by its parent in India, as the local entity aims to double sales.“We have taken 35 years to reach annual sales mark of 1.5 million units. I do not think it will take as long to sell another 1.5 million vehicles, may be not even 10 years,” said Maruti chairman RC Bhargava.’Separately, Maruti will be investing Rs 1,900 crore for its second phase of expansion at an R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana, which will be commissioned in early 2019. The company has a capital expenditure plan of Rs 4,500 crore for the current fiscal year.

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