Suzuki Motor Corp. said Wednesday it would invest 350 billion rupees ($4.2 billion) to build a car plant in India to solidify its leading position in the world's third-largest auto market.

The Japanese carmaker will construct the new plant in Gujarat state to begin operations through its subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., in the year through March 2029, with an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles in the future.

Suzuki will also spend 32 billion rupees to ramp up production at its existing plant in the same state in a bid to increase its electric vehicle output. The additional production line will go online sometime in the year through March 2027.

"In this ever-growing country, we will provide a variety of sustainable mobility options by focusing on Indian customers," President Toshihiro Suzuki said at an investment summit in India.

Maruti Suzuki holds a 40 percent share of the Indian auto market with the capacity to build 2.25 million vehicles a year.

The automaker aims to raise its annual output capacity to approximately 4 million vehicles by March 2031 as India surpassed China in mid-2023 to become the world's most populous nation, according to a U.N. estimate.

==Kyodo

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