Bangkok - Thailand's Industry Ministry plans to invite India's Tata Group to invest in the government's eco-car programme, media reports said Monday. Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras, who is also deputy prime minister, said he planned to make the invitation when he meets with senior executives of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group on a trip early next month, said The Nation online new service.
On June 15, Thailand announced that it will award tax privileges to any automobile manufacturer that invests at least 5 billion baht (150 million dollars) in the local production of eco-cars that meet the government's standards for the project.
Eligible companies must manufacture no fewer than 100,000 units per annum from the fifth year and meet the government requirements of manufacturing a vehicle that consumes less than 5 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres and complies with the Euro 4 standards of carbon emissions of less than 120 grammes per kilometre.
Last week Honda Motors became the first automobile manufacturer to express its intent to invest in the eco-car project as part of a planned 186-million-dollar expansion of its existing assembly and production facilities in Thailand.
Last week the Thai government also approved Tata Motors' plan to invest 1.3 billion baht (39 million dollars) in a joint venture to manufacture and assemble 35,000 one-ton pickup trucks a year in Thailand.
Thailand is currently the world's second largest manufacturer of one-ton pickup trucks, an all-purpose utility vehicle popular among farmers and provincial businesses that claims about 60 per cent of the country's automotive market and is a major export item for the kingdom.
The South-east Asia country is trying to attract investment in eco-car production as a means of diversifying its local automotive industry.
