Chakan Fights For Supremacy O

nce knighted as the Detroit of India, Chakan, 30 kms from tier 2 city Pune has had to put up a fierce fight for Maharashtra to retain its supremacy as a manufacturing hub. The competition is getting stiffer against other states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the country among other states also vying for the numero uno status. In Maharashtra, the industrial hub in the Chakan belt is undoubtedly the brewing ground for both legacy manufacturers and startups alike. It is also a choice of Centre of Excellences (CoEs) fed by a steady pool of skilled manpower and fresh IT and engineering graduates that are a constant. Strategically located on the National Highway 50 (NH 50), it benefits from its proximity to the Mumbai-Pune Highway, Pune-Nashik Highway, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Talegaon Industrial Area, Pimpri-Chinchwad Industrial Area, Pune International Airport and the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport and Nashik. Chakan is benefits from its connectivity to Pune and PimpriChinchwad by an extensive road network. It also benefits from rail and air connectivity. The Phase III of Pune Metro would connect Chakan to Moshi, and further link it to an International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

A global front

Recently, tier 1 supplier Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. (Sona Comstar) shifted out of Bhosari, in Pune to a new unit. It opened its second-largest manufacturing plant in Chakan for drive line products, for EV and non-EV applications for both the domestic and export markets. The facility is known to span 10 acres and boasts of a manufacturing capacity of about 11.8 mn gears, with a target of 20.1 mn differential gears by the end of FY25. It is set up with an estimated investment of Rs.231 crore. “We are proud to inaugurate our new plant in Chakan,” Sunjay Kapur, Chairman of Sona Comstar and President, of ACMA expressed. The Chakan plant is equipped with manufacturing equipment; houses an advanced