Scania Commercial Vehicles India has commissioned its manufacturing facility at Narsapur Industrial Area near Bangalore. Not very far from the Volvo Commercial Vehicle plant at Hoskote on the Bangalore-Chennai highway, the greenfield site will manufacture close to 2,500 heavy haulage trucks and 1,000 inter-city buses annually.

Set up with an initial investment of Rs 250 crore, the plant was inaugurated by Karnataka's Chief Minister, S Siddaramaiah in the presence of Union Minister for Road and Transportation, Oscar Fernandes and Mr Martin Lundstedt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scania Global.

Expected to provide employment for more than 800 people within the next five years, the plant will also serve as the company's head office and centre for all commercial operations across the country. The operations will consist of final assembly of trucks with bodywork and building of complete coaches along with a service workshop and a central parts warehouse. With its superior technological processes, large-scale manufacturing set-up and eco-friendly focus, the plant houses two manufacturing units. One for trucks, and the other for buses.

Situated right across the road from Mahindra's Aerospace facility, initial production of trucks started in June. Production trials for mining and off-road trucks have started, and the production of on-road trucks will start soon. The bus roll out is planned for the first quarter of 2014. Initial production is likely to start later this year.

Represented in India since 2007 by Larsen & Toubro through a distribution and servicing agreement for heavy duty tippers, Scania set up its Indian subsidiary, Scania Commercial Vehicles India in 2011, with an aim to further boost its presence in the country. The company recently launched a new range of on-road haulage trucks - R 500 6x4, the G 460 6x4 and the P 410 6x2, suited for the Indian market. The P 410 8x4 mining tipper was launched in December 2012. Early this year, Scania also showcased its new coach range at Mumbai. The company has also forayed into the engines segment with the launch of products for industrial, marine and power generation.