Despite delay for the time being, the company has also said that it was unlikely that they will be commissioning the Gujarat plant even at the end of financial year 2015-16 as the slowdown is quite acute reports ET. As you can see in the images of their new plant site here, which were clicked a few days back, no construction work has commenced yet.
The person on duty said that he had no idea when the construction will begin. He also added that the construction was about to begin two months back, and a team from L&T was also deployed (see cabin on right), but villagers stopped construction.
The reason villagers oppose construction of MSIL plant at the land under survey no 293 in Hansalpur, Becharji of Mehsana district, is that they think they have been cheated by top officials. The local adds that buying of land at the site began about 2-3 years ago. The price which was paid to farmers at that time was miniscule as compared to what it was sold to Gujarat govt by present owners. This has caused an uproar amongst farmers and resulted in a backlash. At present the situation is calm at the plant site.
In Delhi, Maruti Suzuki will be assessing demand in the passenger vehicle segment in domestic markets over the coming 2 to 3 years before taking any future decision on this proposed Mehsana plant, which is spread over 700 acres. Maruti Suzuki had planned investment to the tune of INR 4000 crores in the first phase at Gujarat plant. This would result in production capacity of 2.50 lakh units per annum. As of now, there seems to be a long wait before construction actually begins at their new plant.
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