India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has announced an investment of Rs 26,000 crore to set up a new diesel plant at its Gurgaon facility and to expand its research and development (R&D) facility in Rohtak, Haryana.
The company is also planning to hike prices of its car models by up to Rs 17,000 due to the rise in excise duty declared by the finance minister in the Union Budget 2012.
Commenting on the developments Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava told NDTV Profit that the sale of petrol cars will decline in 2012-13 on the back of rising crude oil prices. “So, the only way to grow is to make more diesel engines. For 2012-13, the supply of diesel engine is limited but we are into phase one of our new diesel engine plant in Gurgaon and in middle of 2013, we will get an output of 150,000 diesel capacity,” he added.
Bhargava also expressed confidence the sale of its diesel cars would increase.
Shares of Maruti Suzuki rose 19.7 per cent in the period of six months, while the BSE auto index gained 18.80 per cent in the same period.
Read the complete interview below, and watch the accompanying video here.
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