Mahindra gets possession of 800 acres in Additional Butibori for Rs 15,000 crore-plus plant

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited has been handed official possession of 800 acres in the Additional Butibori industrial area of Nagpur. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) handed over the land. The company is preparing to invest more than Rs 15,000 crore in the proposed greenfield project.

The company has paid MIDC more than Rs 706 crore for the land. The project is estimated to create more than 20,000 direct jobs. It is being described as a major step towards making Nagpur an automobile hub and towards the industrial development of Vidarbha.

The formal transfer was completed in the presence of MIDC regional officer Manohar Pote and chief engineer Rajesh Zanjal. On behalf of the company, Dr Vinay Khanolkar, chief operating officer of Mahindra & Mahindra's auto division, Nitin Vaidya, plant head of the Nagpur greenfield project, and Ashish Sodte took possession. Kapil Chandrayan of the Association for Industries Development (AID) was also present.

The company is to be allotted a total of 1,500 acres for the project, of which possession of 800 acres has now been given. The remaining 700 acres will be handed over later, according to the information provided.

The project aims to build more than seven lakh commercial vehicles a year. It could also boost automobile ancillary industries, logistics, transport and the services sector. The proposed investment is expected to speed up industrial activity in Nagpur and surrounding areas. However, the progress of the project will become clear only when detailed official information is available on when production will begin and how capacity will be phased.

According to Pote, the process of acquiring another 3,000 acres in Additional Butibori is under way. He said the acquisition could be completed by November-December. Pote said the land would help in allotting plots to investors who come in future.

According to Pote, most of the interested companies have already been given land under earlier memoranda of understanding (MoUs), and several companies have started work. He called the handover of land to Mahindra on time an important step for industrial development. Attention will now be on the next phase of the project, construction and the actual timeline for the investment.