TVS Motor Company on Tuesday said it would set up a Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) plant at Nanjungud in Karnataka to make a foray into the fast growing three-wheeler market.

The company also plans to invest Rs 140 crore (Rs 1.40 billion) in the existing two-wheeler plant in the district.

Announcing this at the inauguration of the second phase of its two-wheeler plant in Mysore, Venu Srinivasan, managing director, TVS Motor Company, said the company planned to launch its passenger three-wheeler in the next 18 months and also foray into cargo quadricycle (a four wheeler based on three-wheeler technology).

"To implement these projects, TVS has plans to acquire 500 acres of land and spend Rs 500 crore towards this project in four phases over the next five years," he said.

"TVS Motor has started development of three-wheeler  (the prototype launched by Karnataka chief minsiter S M Krishna), both passenger version and utility version in petrol, LPG, CNG and diesel, which are technologically advanced, environmental friendly and fuel-efficient," he said.