According to Japanese newspaper Nikkei the plant will serve markets in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Vietnam, and Hitachi wants to conclude negotiations with an Indian partner in the next few months to begin work on the factory as soon as possible.

In addition to India, Hitachi has plans to set up manufacturing plants in Britain and Brazil. The company wants to boost railway-related sales to Yen 320bn ($US 4.12bn) in 2015 from Yen 133.1bn in 2010, with 60% of these sales from exports.