Mahindra arm’s Chennai cluster to see Rs 3500 crore investment

Mahindra Lifespace Developers (MLDL), the real estate and infrastructure development business of $20.7 billion Mahindra Group, is expecting an investment of Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 3500 crore from the incoming companies at its just-inaugurated industrial cluster christened ORIGINS in Chennai, when its first phase gets completed with full capacity utilisation.

ORIGINS, Chennai has been developed under a 60:40 joint venture between Mahindra World City Developers (MWCDL) and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan. MLDL and Sumitomo Corporation have together committed to invest close to Rs 1000 crore in developing the industrial cluster, which is expected to create direct employment for about 7000 persons when fully operational.

Speaking to the media, after inaugurating the industrial cluster here on Friday, Sangeeta Prasad, MD and CEO of MLDL, said she expected an investment of Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 3,500 crore from the companies, which would set up facilities after the completion of the first phase of the project. She termed the coming together of her company with Japan’s Sumitomo the combination of like-minded companies.

Phase 1 of ORIGINS spans around 300 acres, and is ready for business with all approvals in place. She said the cluster would enable faster go-to-market for businesses via world-class plug-and-play infrastructure, strategic location advantages and a range of value-added services. The cluster will target companies in the engineering, food processing, automotive, logistics and aerospace sectors, among others.

She said two companies Yanmar Group, an over 100-year-old Japanese business conglomerate and manufacturer of diesel engines, and Nissei Electric, a leading Japanese manufacturer and trader of optical fiber products and electrical components, have been already in. They both are establishing their first manufacturing facilities in India at this cluster. Yanmar will invest Rs 500 crore.

Tsutomu Akimoto, managing executive officer and GM, infrastructure business unit of Sumitomo Corporation, said, “Tamil Nadu is one of the most promising destinations for Japanese investments in India and I strongly believe that ORIGINS , Chennai can enhance the state’s attractiveness as an innovation and manufacturing hub.”

Origins by Marhindra World City has been planned as a robust industrial ecosystem by the Mahindra Group and the Chennai facility is the first one in that category. The second one is being planned at Ahmedabad with International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a strategic partner. Sangeeta said the company was in talks with a slew of state governments to set up more Origins across the country.