The proposed investment will take DICV’s total investments in India to more than Rs 14,500 crore. The expansion is expected to create around 400 jobs and enhance capabilities in product development, manufacturing, research and development, local infrastructure and future technology readiness.
The company said the fresh investment will help prepare its product portfolio to meet rising domestic demand. Growing government spending on highways, logistics corridors, ports, mining and public transport is driving demand for commercial vehicles offering improved efficiency, uptime and safety.
Read More: Maruti, Tata, Mahindra raised E20 fuel contamination concerns, emails show
“BharatBenz was built for India, and this investment reflects our confidence in the next phase of the country’s commercial vehicle growth,” said Torsten Schmidt, Managing Director & CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.
DICV, a subsidiary of Germany’s Daimler Truck AG, began sales operations in India in 2012. Since then, more than 220,000 BharatBenz trucks and buses have been put on Indian roads. Its operations are anchored by a 400-acre integrated manufacturing and R&D facility at Oragadam near Chennai, which employs more than 4,000 people.
“As infrastructure, logistics, mining, construction and passenger mobility continue to expand, Indian customers need trucks and buses that deliver higher uptime, safety, reliability and operating efficiency,” Schmidt added.The Oragadam facility has a high level of domestic sourcing, with localisation at around 92% across the product value chain and a network of nearly 400 local suppliers.
“Through BharatBenz, we are strengthening products, localization, service readiness and parts availability for India, while also reinforcing the country’s role as an important manufacturing and supply base within Daimler Truck’s global network,” he noted.
Read More: Tata Motors eyes supply chain debottlenecking, new markets to boost Q2 demand
BharatBenz customers are supported by a network of more than 420 dealer and service touchpoints, along with a logistics centre in Pune. The Chennai facility also serves as an international hub for Daimler Truck, exporting more than 75,000 completed vehicles and over 330 million component parts to 70 markets worldwide.