DW BUREAU / LUDHIANA Punjab Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora today inaugurated the new plant of Hero Motors Company at Hi-Tech Cycle Valley, village Dhanansu, near here. Earlier, the cabinet minister also inaugurated the 8.5 km long and 100 feet wide approach road (connecting Chandigarh Road to Cycle Valley), that has been constructed by the PSIEC at a cost of Rs 66 crore. While speaking on the occasion, Pankaj Munjal informed that the Cycle Valley is a critical element in establishing HMC's global engineering & manufacturing chain with R&D facilities centred in Europe and manufacturing in India He said that Hero E Cycles Ltd factory is a major component of Hero Motors Company's (HMC) ambition to make India a global manufacturing hub of premium bicycles and E Cycles He said that the factory will help HMC augment its production capacity to 10 million units annually, with a production of 4 million premium bicycles and E Cycles, majorly for global consumption. Along with the new plant, Hero E Cycle Valley will also house a series of international component suppliers to achieve complete localisation of manufacturing in India. Spread across a sprawling 100 acres, the Valley is expected to employ over 9,000 people when fully operational. The Park is establishing a complete ecosystem for international component suppliers to localise production and help India eliminate its dependence on premium component imports. He said that the Capt Amarinder Singh led Punjab government is committed for promoting industry in the state and that is why, several big companies have decided to set up their mega units here. He said that very soon, many other companies would also be setting up their units in cycle valley Dhanansu. (editor@dailyworld.in)