Swedish manufacturer chooses Tamil Nadu over Vietnam

Autoliv Inc., a fortune 500 company headquartered in Sweden, is setting up its manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu at an investment of ₹100 crore.

It has bought land for the plant at Cheyyar to make air-bags. The project is expected to create jobs for over 400 people.

Autoliv Inc. develops, manufactures and markets air-bags, seat belts and steering wheels. Statistically, more than three air-bags or seat belts from Autoliv have been delivered to every vehicle produced globally during the past 10 years. Sources told The Hindu that the company was initially planning to set up this plant in Vietnam, but decided to go for Cheyyar after several rounds of discussions with officials of the State government.

A government source said, “They found the ecosystem in Tamil Nadu conducive to manufacturing and saw the State as a viable alternative to countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.”

“It makes economic sense for the company to set up a plant here as Chennai is the Detroit of India and major car-makers have a presence here,” said a source in the automobile industry.

Last year, the State government signed several memoranda of understanding for investments worth over $2 billion in the automotive industry alone.

In 2020, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles said it would expand its portfolio with an investment of ₹2,277 crore and generate jobs for 400 people. Netherlands-based Dinex proposed a project to manufacture auto components at Mahindra World City, entailing ₹100 crore in investment.

Under one of the MoUs inked last year, BYD India Private Limited committed itself to establishing a project for manufacture of electric vehicles in the SIPCOT Industrial Park at Sriperumpudur.

In December last, the State government inked a deal with Ola Electric Mobility for setting up an electric two-wheeler manufacturing unit at Hosur at an investment of ₹2,354 crore.

Source: https://www-thehindu-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/swedish-manufacturer-chooses-tamil-nadu-over-vietnam/article33553988.ece/amp/