Mahabharata Motors to unveil 2-wheelers under TVS brand

Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group will soon hit the tarmac with its new brand of two-wheelers. The Indian roads will have see a new two wheeler brand, Mahabharata Motors, by June 2009.

Mahabharata Motors is currently fast constructing its factory and is exected to go on stream by December 2008. According to top officials of the group’s partner Universal Success, the installation of machinery will be completed by March, 2009.

The test runs are exepcted to soon after that and the first batch of two-wheelers from Mahabharata Motors will start rolling from June. The company has reportedly informed the West Bengal government of its plans. It has been estimated that the project cost would be Rs 1,200 crore, and the two wheelers would be produced under the TVS brand.  Though the two-wheelers would be produced under the TVS brand, TVS would be a contract manufacturer. The equity of Mahabharat would remain with the Salim Group and Universal Success, the official said. The company aims at rolling out around 7,000 vehicles a month.

The Salim Group is involved in a number of projects in West Bengal, such as construction of Kolkata West International City. While Salim Group and Universal Success are investors in the project, Ciputra is the developer and Singapore-based Surbana the project manager. This apart the state government has also given the nod for the proposal for a chemical hub and multi-product SEZ . The chemical hub would be set up as a joint venture project of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd and New Kolkata International Development.