Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), the country’s largest car manufacturer has pulled its sleeves up to start hiring for its research and development (R&D) activities in India. The car manufacturer makes its products in India itself while the parent company Suzuki Motor Co. gives assistance in co-design projects. The company is now intending to achieve the full body capacity and for that the company is turning towards its research and development segment.

At Rohtak, Maruti Suzuki India has purchased 700 acres of land where it will set up an R&D centre. For this big investment, the company has plans to recruit over 100 engineers by next financial year which will further strengthen its R&D team in India. Alongside recruitment for R&D, the company will also have vacancies for 1400 technicians and managers which will improve the situation further.

Pointing the situation, S Y Siddiqui who is the managing executive officer for HR, IT, Finance, COSL in Maruti Suzuki India, commented that they need sharp brains to develop design and also test their cars. He also said that they will follow overseas recruitment in Japan, US and Europe being on list of destinations.

He also stated that the Rohtak test track will be completed by 2013 and for that purpose, the company is looking forward for worthy candidates who can work with their organization and provide training to their employees for developmental activities. In the year 2009-2010 the amount invested in R&D activities was Rs. 173.30 crore which was as little as Rs 91-crore in 2008-09. This shows the growing concern of the company towards this segment.

If we look at the figures revealed by Automotive Mission Plan (2006-16), the fastest growing Indian Auto industry would be in need of 25 million employees by the end of 2016. This figure shows triple value as compared to that of the present 13 million. For meeting this big demand, the automobile majors are looking forward to build a team of workers through training and development.

14th edition of the National Human Resource Development Summit held in Gurgaon between December 1st and 3rd bore this issue on its agenda. From all over India, Australia, Europe, United States, Malaysia and Thailand, 1200 delegates from 500 companies participated in the meet. They discussed problems and the initiatives to be taken in order to strengthen and reinforce the programmes.