Anantapuramu(AP):
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday inaugurated Kia Motors India’s car manufacturing facility at Erramanchi in the district.
Accompanied by Kia’s top executives, the Chief Minister went round the plant and inspected the production facilities.
Set up on a 536-acre site abutting the National Highway- 44, the greenfield plant has a capacity to manufacture three lakh cars a year.
Kia has already launched its first made-in-India SUV Seltos from the plant in August this year.
Kia invested 1.1 billion USD on the Anantapuramu plant, its first production facility in India, built in less than two years and is providing employment to over 3,000 people.
Kia began trial production in January this year and now the plant is ready for full-scale manufacture of cars.
South Korean Ambassador to India Shin Bongkil, Kia Motors Corporation CEO Han-Woo Park, Kia Motors India MD and CEO Kookhyun Shim, AP ministers Mekapati Goutham Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayana and other leaders attended the event.
The newest Kia plant features cutting-edge manufacturing processes, including advanced robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
An integrated automotive production facility, the Anantapuramu plant employs state-of-the-art production technologies, with more than 300 robots automating the press, body and paint shops.
Kia and its vendor partners are expected to invest two billion USD to create 3,000 direct and about 7,000 indirect jobs in the region in the next few years.
