Nitra (Slovakia), Apr 10 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday visited the Jaguar Land Rover facility here, while also witnessing the rollout of Land Rover Defender unit.
Murmu arrived here on Wednesday in the second leg of her two-nation state visit, becoming only the second Indian Head of State to visit the Slovak Republic.
The President met the Indian staff employed at the plant who had lined up to meet her.
The last time an Indian President visited Slovakia was 29 years ago. Murmu becomes only the second Indian President to visit the Central European Country.
In October 2018, Tata Motors-owned JLR inaugurated its manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia.
With an investment of 1.4 billion euros, the plant boasts an annual production capacity of 1,50,000 vehicles.
“We are very pleased the the President visited our plant because here at JLR Slovakia Nitra plant is biggest investment in Slovakia from India,” JLR spokesperson Slovakia Katarina Chlebova said.
“Electrification is part of our reimagined strategy. At the end of this decade we are planning to produce from each of our JLR model at least one electric vehicle,” she said.
About 200 Indians work at the plant, which rolls out Defender and Discovery models.
The Defender is produced only at the Nitra plant and exported world wide.
JLR set up the Nitra facility after evaluating multiple locations across Europe and North America.
The Slovak government supported the investment with 125 million euros in aid.
The 300,000-square metre facility stands at the forefront of aluminium manufacturing and engineering expertise in Slovakia.
The plant employs more than 4,400 people (3,300 Slovaks, 800 Ukrainians, 200 Indians) and produces two models — Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender.
Since its inception, the Nitra plant has been a remarkable success. It has manufactured 5,30,000 Defender and Discovery vehicles till now. PTI ABS TRB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.