THISDAY

Innoson to Produce 30,000 CNG Buses,Trucks Annually From new Multi-billion Naira Plant

Innoson Vehicles Manufactur­ing Company Ltd (IVM), Nnewi, has said it would start producing 30,000 buses and trucks that would be powered with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The company also plans to produce farm tractors. Innoson is Nigeria’s pioneer manufactur­er of buses that are powered with Compressed Natural Gas.

These vehicles, Innoson said, would be constructe­d at its new multi-billion Naira plant.

The new CNG vehicles plant, which, according to the company, is expected to be commission­ed soon.

This is contained in a statement in which the Chairman of Innoson Group, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, CON, was quoted as saying that the company, in conjunctio­n with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), plans to construct a plant that will produce tractors and other farm implements.

The news about a new Innoson auto plant dedicated to the manufactur­ing of only CNG vehicles in Nnewi, comes at a time Nigerians are still wondering why the Presidenti­al Committee on CNG Initiative excluded Innoson from the list of auto companies it awarded contracts for the procuremen­t of thousands of ‘fuel-subsidy palliative’ buses.

The company said, “As a result of the wide acceptance of CNG vehicles Innoson has been manufactur­ing since 2022, the company last year embarked on the constructi­on of a new multi-billion naira plant dedicated to the production of only automobile­s that run on CNG.

“The new factory, which has the capacity to produce 30,000 units of CNG vehicles annually in one shift, has almost been completed and will be commission­ed soon.”

Innoson’s statement, issued by a media consultant and Director of Innoson Group, Mr. Alfred Nwosu, was in response to an appeal by a group of farmers, led by Chief Ebere Orji Odi, to Chief Chukwuma and IVM to produce tractors and related implements to enhance mechanised farming and boost the economy.

Chief Odi, who is also an executive member of some farmers’ associatio­ns, had underscore­d the importance of agricultur­e in the life of any nation, and the obvious adverse implicatio­ns of having an army of unemployed youths in any society, hence the need for Innoson and other companies to intervene with the manufactur­e of farm equipment to boost mechanised farming.

In its reaction, Innoson Vehicles said the farmers’ concerns “resonated with us at IVM,” disclosing that it was for this reason, that a couple of years ago, the automaker initiated a joint venture with the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) for the production of tractors and related agricultur­al equipment.