Automobile manufacturing majors Renault and Nissan signed a pact worth ₹5300 crore ($600 million USD) with Tamil Nadu government under which they will collaborate on six new vehicles for domestic and international customers, including two new fully electric vehicles, said company officials on Monday.
The six new models will comprise of three for each company, engineered and built in Chennai’s existing facility. They will include four new C-segment SUVs. Two new A-segment electric vehicles will be the first for both Renault and Nissan in India, said the officials.
An initial investment of around $600 million USD ( ₹5,300 crore) is planned to support the new projects, which will create 2,000 new additional jobs at the Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre in Chennai, said one of the official. An MoU to this effect was signed between the Tamil Nadu government in the presence of chief minister M K Stalin and the automobile companies.
During the event, Stalin recalled that it was his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi who first secured an investment of ₹13,000 crore when the Renault-Nissan started operations at its Oragadam plant in 2010. Expanding their car line up and creating more jobs will cement Chennai’s place as the automobile capital of India, Stalin said.
“It employs about 15,000 people directly in the state and has been one of the mainstays in ensuring that Tamil Nadu remains the automotive capital of India and an important hub for manufacturing the automobiles and auto components and automobile design as well,” said S Krishnan, additional chief secretary of Tamil Nadu’s Industries department.
The Chennai factory also aims to become carbon-neutral by 2045 by transitioning completely to renewable energy.
The MoU follows last week’s announcement from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance of creating “new high-value operational projects” and its future Indian operations were outlined on Monday.
“For the first time, the Nissan line-up in India will reflect our global power in high-quality SUVs and EVs, bringing greater value to our employees, customers and communities,” said Guillaume Cartier, chairperson for Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region. “Renault and Nissan are fully committed to the Indian market, committed to electrifying the Indian market and committed to minimising our impact on the environment.”
India has a key role in the R&D worldwide, said François Provost, International Development & Partnerships Renault Group and managing director of Alliance Purchasing Organization. “This project together with Nissan is the first concrete output of the new Alliance ambition released on February 6,” he said.
