NEW DELHI: India's third largest carmaker Honda Cars India is planning to set up its third manufacturing plant of the country in Gujarat, with the aim of making India a major export hub in future.

The fully-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company of Japan has two manufacturing plants at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Tapukara in Rajasthan with a cumulative installed capacity of 2.4 lakh per annum.

Honda Cars India senior vice president (marketing & sales) Jnaneswar Sen announced the carmaker's plan to initiate the land acquisition in Gujarat.

"The land acquisition is at a very preliminary phase. The third plant is part of Honda's long-term commitment to the Indian market. We are yet to finalise the plans for the third plant and the entire process is at a very preliminary stage," he said on the sidelines of annual convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' in Delhi on Friday.

The company also plans to add the second shift operations at its Tapukara plant from November to cope with the rising demand for its popular sedans such as the City and Amaze manufactured at this facility. It currently has a production capacity of 60,000 units on a single shift basis.

"We have a lot of scope to enhance our production at the Tapukara plant that is spread over 450 acres and is almost thrice the 150-acre Greater Noida plant," Sen added.

Honda is the fastest growing car company in India as sales jumped 48 per cent to hit 73,119 units in the first five months of the current fiscal. The company plans to introduce the next-generation premium hatchback Jazz next year and also debut the new Accord sedan to increase its play in the Indian market.