Kia India plans $2 billion investment in Andhra Pradesh plant, to add 12,000 jobs

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Kia's 000270.KS Indian unit plans to invest about $2 billion to set up an additional manufacturing plant in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the South Korean automaker's managing director and CEO, Gwanggu Lee, said on Thursday.

• The investment is expected to create about 12,000 jobs and increase Kia India's annual production capacity to 630,000 vehicles from 430,000, Lee said at the Confederation of Indian Industry's Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam

• The company did not specify a timeline for setting up the proposed facility or when production would begin

• India, the world's third-largest car market, is attracting ​billions of dollars in investment from global automakers seeking to tap rising demand and ​expand local manufacturing capacity, underscoring the country's position as a major automotive production hub

• Japan's Suzuki Motor 7269.T, the ​majority owner of India's largest carmaker by volume, Maruti Suzuki, laid out plans in ​2025 to invest about $8 billion in the country

• Carmakers such as Toyota and Honda have committed to expanding ‌their ⁠manufacturing ambitions in India as well

• Kia, which signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government in 2017, began mass production at its existing Anantapur facility in August 2019. The plant manufactures the Seltos and Sonet models, and serves both domestic and export markets