Tata Motors is setting into motion a plan to open a heavy commercial vehicles unit in Myanmar.

The Indian automobile giant recently entered into a contract with state-run Myanmar Automobile & Diesel Industries Ltd (MADIL), to set up a heavy truck plant at Magwe, around 480 km from Yangon. The facility would be producing around 1,000 HCVs per annum initially, which could go up to 5,000 units later.

Tata Motors corporate communications head Debasis Ray said, "We will set up a heavy commercial vehicle plant on a government of India credit line. It will assemble Tata trucks out of kits being sent from here."

Asked how long the company been involved with the project, Ray added, "since earlier this year."

Though the quantum of credit line offered by the Indian government to Myanmar for the HCV facility could not be known, Ray said the plant will begin operations in the last quarter of this financial year.

Though the trucks would be produced under the Tata Motors brand, MADIL would be marketing and selling them.

The facilities that will come up at the plant include a flexible chassis and frame assembly line along with a cab manufacturing, painting and trimming setup area.

Earlier in the day, Myanmar's military ruler Than Shwe visited the Tata Motors HCV plant in the steel city. He met senior Tata Motors officials, including plant head S B Borwankar, before flying back to Kolkata.

According to a source, Borwankar will soon be moving to Pune as head, manufacturing, for Tata Motors' entire commercial vehicles operations. He will replace S N Ambardekar, the current head, commercial vehicles business unit, who retires in early September. P K Chobe, who is currently plant head, Uttarakhand, will replace Borwankar in Jamshedpur.