Piaggio to invest Euro 65 mn in Baramati plant

Mumbai, Jan 22 (UNI) Italy-based two-wheeler producer, Piaggio will invest Euro 60-65 million for development and industrialisation of its 1000 cc, 1200 cc twin-cylinder turbo diesel and diesel engines along with construction of power train plant at its Baramati plant.

The engines and parts will be manufactured under Piaggio's wholly owned subsidiary, Piaggio Vehicle Private Limited (PVPL) plant at Baramati in Maharashtra.

Piaggio has also signed two agreements for supply of diesel engines to PVPL. The first agreement with Japan-based, motor designing and producing company Daihatsu includes supply of diesel engines for its light commercial vehicle (LCV) trucks, and the second eight-year agreement with US-based Greaves Cotton includes supply of mono-cylinder diesel engines for its 'Ape' three-wheelers.

Piaggio CEO and Chairman Roberto Colaninno said, ''India is in the middle of our market that stretches from Europe and America on one side to the South East and Far East Asian markets on the other.

We can turn Baramati into a manufacturing hub to support Piaggio's overseas requirements.'' PVPL, which also manufactures four-wheeled LCVs like the 'Ape Truk', 'Porter' and 'Quargo', sold more than 1,54,000 vehicles in 2007 with a turnover of Euro 238 million, a gain of 15.3 per cent over Euro 206.4 million in 2006.

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