Japan's Takata plans new factory in India

TOKYO: Takata Corp, Japan's largest maker of auto safety equipment, plans to build its first factory in India.

The company would start producing seatbelts at a factory in Chennai by the end of 2009, Kimio Kobori, a Takata spokesman said in Tokyo. The investment and production capacity have not yet been disclosed.

Takata, a supplier to Toyota Motor and General Motors joins automakers setting up factories in India as vehicle sales surge in the world's second-fastest growing major economy.

Carmakers may spend $40 billion in India in the next decade.