The Italian motorcycle maker Benelli has scrapped its plans of setting up a manufacturing plant in India. The company has taken the decision after the government mooted a plan to ban two-wheelers with combustion engines up to 150cc capacity by 2025.
The company was planning to set up a global manufacturing hub in India as its plant in China was operating at full capacity. The company was considering making mass-market bikes in India which will be then exported to other markets.
The proposed plant would have had a capacity of manufacturing at least 2,00,000 units annually to make a business case and would have employed about 400 people.
The company has instead doubled the capacity at its assembly facility near Hyderabad to 20,000 units annually and has room to double it further to serve demand in the local market in future. The Italian company also plans to launch two 250cc motorcycles during the same period, but these will be on the more expensive side.