The country's leading two-wheeler maker
Hero MotoCorp on Friday started work on its Rs 450-crore project to build a new R& D centre in Rajasthan as part of its strategy to keep ahead of Japanese partner-turned rival Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India Ltd.
Hero MotoCorp managing director
Pawan Munjal said, "We are investing Rs 450 crore in the centre at Kukas with plans to commence operations by first quarter of calender year 2015. The company is in the process of investing Rs 1,300 crore in three projects in Rajasthan," Munjal said.
Munjal disclosed that the R&D centres at Gurgaon and Daruhera plants would also be shifted to the R& D centre in Kukas once it becomes operational.
The company's global technology partners- Erik Buell of Erik Buell Racing of the US, Alberto Strazzari of Engines Engineering, Italy, and Markus Feichtner of AVL, Austria, were also present on the occasion.
Munjal said that the Kukas centre, 20 km north of Jaipur, will employ 600 engineers and support staff and the company will hire the best of global talent to build a truly multi- cultural, multinational set up.
The centre would develop models for both domestic and international markets. Currently, the company is investing 2- 3 per cent of its revenues on R& D. Apart from the R&D centre, the firm is setting up a manufacturing plant and a global parts centre at Neemrana, both of which will start operations in the first quarter of 2014. " We would be providing direct employment to about 3,500 people in these three facilities," Munjal added.
Courtesy: Mail Today
<em>Photo: Reuters</em> 
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