PARIS, Jun 20 – French tyre giant Michelin, which plans to cut nearly 1,100 jobs in France, aims to open a factory in India in three years, the company\’s chief executive Michel Rollier said Saturday.
"We hope the factory will open within three years," Rollier told Europe 1 radio.
India\’s Economic Times newspaper reported Thursday that Michelin may invest more than one billion euros (1.39 billion dollars) over 10 years in a factory in the Asian country, but Rollier refused to confirm the figure.
"I cannot tell you (the figure) but for a big factory, it\’s not far from that," he said. "One billion euros over 10 years is less than what we invest in France."
The Economic Times report quoted "a person directly involved" as saying that Michelin had sought the Indian government\’s approval to acquire a 100 percent stake in a new company, Michelin India Tamil Nadu Tyres, formed in April 2009.
The world\’s biggest tyre manufacturer was negotiating with the Tamil Nadu regional government for land on which to build its future manufacturing unit, where it could create between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs, the paper said.
