Kia Motors finally made it clear

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Thu, Feb 06, 2020, 03:45 PM

Kia Motors finally made it clear

The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday refuted reports that Kia Motors India is intending to move its manufacturing facility in Penukonda in Anantapur district to Tamil Nadu.

Rajat Bhargava, special chief secretary in the Andhra Pradesh industries department said in a statement, "We strongly condemn the news that there is a proposal to move the Kia unit out of Andhra Pradesh. KIA and the government of AP are working together."

A top official of Kia, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that manufacturing would continue in Penukonda. "We have invested more than Rs 13,000 crore in the Penukonda facility and have been producing cars within two years of setting up the unit. Where is need to shift an established unit from AP?"

Earlier, report by Reuter from New Delhi had stated that the auto company was in talks with Tamil Nadu over the possibility of moving its USD 1.1 billion plant out of Andhra Pradesh only months after it fully opened, due to policy changes last year.

Kia inaugurated the Andhra plant, its first in the world's fifth-largest car market, in December 2019 after two years of construction. It has an annual capacity of some 300,000 units and created 12,000 direct and indirect jobs.