TAPUKARA (Alwar), India, July 1, 2007 – Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. (HSCI) announced the commencement of construction work at its second plant, located at Tapukara Industrial Area, about 120 km from its current plant at Greater Noida and 70 km from Delhi.

HSCI’s new facility is spread over 600 acres and will have an initial production capacity of 60,000 units per annum, with an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore (US $230 million). The work on the new plant will begin with the construction of the Press Shop.

The Bhoomi Poojan ceremony for the plant was held at the site to lay the foundation for the mega project. Narpat Singh Rajvi, Minister of Industry, Rajasthan, graced the occasion as the chief guest. Akira Amari, Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry of Japan, and Satoshi Aoki, Chairman, Honda Motor Co. Japan, were the Guests of Honour.

The ceremony was held in traditional Indian style and comprised all the rituals that are performed for auspicious beginning of a new project. Senior Honda officials, including Siddharth Shriram, Chairman, and Masahiro Takedagawa, President & CEO, participated in the Bhoomi Poojan.  This was followed by the customary ground-breaking and coconut breaking rituals.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also unveiled the foundation stones for the new plant as well as the Suppliers area.

The ceremony was attended by more than 700 people, including Rajasthan MPs, MLAs, state ministers, senior officials of the Rajasthan government and RIICO, senior Honda officials from Japan, dignitaries from the surrounding area, village sarpanchs (leaders) and some residents of the neighboring villages.

Speaking about the proposed plant, Chief Guest Vasundhara Raje said, “This project will have a significant role in ushering progress and prosperity for this region and its people. ”

Satoshi Aoki in his address said, “For Honda, India is an important market, which holds great potential for future growth. We are focused on investing in India to participate in and contribute to its growth.”

Addressing the gathering media on the occasion, Siddharth Shriram said, “It’s an auspicious occasion for us today. Setting up the new manufacturing facility will lead Honda’s growth in India, but also boost all-round economic development in the region. The construction work will begin immediately and the plant is expected to begin operations by 2009.”

The new Honda project will also have a designated area for suppliers, spread across an area of about 150 acres. Some suppliers also conducted their Bhoomi Poojan at the Tapukara site.

At the proposed plant, HSCI will deploy state-of-the-art technologies that provide the flexibility to produce models more quickly and efficiently. Major processes at the plant will include a press shop, a weld shop, die-casting shop, machine shop, paint shop and assembly operations. The new plant will be modeled on the lines of its latest global plants with great emphasis on environment protection and safety.  The project will generate employment for over 1,000 people in the first phase. The plant will operate under the stringent standards of ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environment management.