India's largest car maker, Maruti is clearly riding a wave. The spiralling sales graph suggests a possible income of Rs 14,000-15,000 crore (net of excise).

And, now, having smoothened the ruffled feathers of Udhyog Bhawan mandarins, Maruti top brass has quickly dashed off to Hamamtsu, the global Suzuki headquarters, to thrash out the fine print of its proposed Rs 6,000-crore investment with its Japanese parent.

Sources said Maruti managing director Jagdish Khattar is in Japan this week with his lead team to discuss the investment plan and review among other issues the three-year 'Challenge 50' programme, which is in its last leg this year.

Maruti had decided to benchmark its facilities with Suzuki's Kosai plant, which is reputed for a high level of efficiency and quality.

The plan involved raising Maruti productivity by 50% and reducing costs by 30%. The company is in the third year, and is said to be well on course with its targets.

Maruti's joint investment with Suzuki will happen over the next five years. It includes setting up a new car plant by Maruti, and a Suzuki supported 3,00,000 units per annum diesel engine manufacturing plant.

The new car plant is tipped to generate 1.3m jobs and contribute over Rs 20,000 crore to the GDP while leading to an investment of Rs 7500 crore in the auto component industry.

The discussion agenda is likely to include plans to launch its premium hatchback, Swift, in India early next year. The Maruti engineering team in India was involved with design and R&D of Swift, unveiled at the recent Paris Motor Show.

Maruti has clocked 27% rise in sales this September over last year. It has maintained a 21% growth in H1, which will be more or less sustained if not outstripped this year.

Last year, its income grew 31% to a net Rs 9,751 crore (net of excise). Its net profit stood at Rs 542.18 crore, a 270% jump over '02-03.