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Kia India has taken a big gamble to give new momentum to its business in India. The company is going to set up a second manufacturing plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, which will cost Rs 18,800 crore. The special thing is that along with petrol-diesel cars, electric models will also be made here. The new plant will start production from 2030. Know the complete details related to its potential, investment, employment and future cars of Kia.
Kia is going to start a second plant in the Indian market.
Kia India has announced to set up its second manufacturing plant in Anantapur by signing an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government. Kia and its supplier partners will invest a total of US $ 2 billion (approximately Rs 18,800 crore) in this project. The new plant will start production in early 2030 and will have a capacity of 2 lakh units annually. With this, the total annual production capacity of the company in India will increase to 6.30 lakh units.
A total of 465 acres of land will be used for plant and supplier operations. The company estimates that this project will create about 12,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities. The new plant will cover four major manufacturing processes like stamping, welding, painting and assembly, which are also running at the existing Anantapur plant. This expansion is being considered an important step towards strengthening the company’s presence in India and increasing its export capacity.
New plant capacity and employment
The new plant will increase the capacity from the existing 4.30 lakh units by about 47 percent to a total of 6.30 lakh units. The existing plant is spread over 945 acres and provides 24,237 direct and indirect jobs. By combining both the plants, the total investment of Kia and the supplier can reach 5 billion dollars (about Rs 47,000 crore).
Model and powertrain
The second plant will make new models of both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric types. At present the company has not revealed the names of the models. Models like Seltos, Sonet, Cyrus, Carens, Carens Clavis, Carnival and Sorento are being manufactured in the existing plant. These also include Cirrus EV, Carens Clavis EV, CNG variant and Sorento Hybrid.
What did the company say?
Guanggu Lee, Managing Director and CEO of Kia India, said that the second plant will increase flexibility according to demand and will help in bringing new models. This will work for Indian and foreign markets. The company aims to achieve annual sales of 4.10 lakh units and 7.6 percent market share by 2030. This will include eight electrified models (hybrid and battery EV). The Seltos Hybrid is expected to arrive in 2027 and the Sonet and Carens hybrids by 2029.
About the Author
Ram Mohan Mishra is an active journalist in the automotive world of digital media and has been working continuously in the field of auto journalism since 2021. Presently he is handling the auto desk of News18 Hindi as Senior Sub-Editor.
