Dubai unit to be operational by June '08, says Ashok Leyland

New Delhi, Jan 13 (UNI) Ashok Leyland, the country's second-biggest maker of buses and trucks, has said it will start manufacturing buses at its Dubai plant by June this year.

The flagship company of the Hinduja Group said the initial production capacity of the unit will be 2,000 buses per year.

''We will commence production of bus bodies and semi knockdown vehicles (SKD) at our Dubai plant by June-end this year, which will have a capacity to manufacture 2,000 buses a year,'' company Managing Director R Seshasayee told UNI on the sidelines of a conference at the 9th Auto Expo here.

The company had earlier said the unit would be functional by the end of February 2008.

He, however, did not divulge the reason behind the delay of the production.

With an initial investment of 500 million dollars for the plant, Mr Seshasayee said the production of 2,000 buses was earlier planned in two phases, but now it has been merged into one phase.

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