This was revealed in a meeting held by Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala with the top executives of the BMW during his visit to the corporate headquarters of the BMW at Munich in Germany on Thursday, an official release said.

The chief minister expressed the hope that the BMW would set up its production plant in India during the year 2005, which would mark the 500 years of Indo-German trade.

Chautala dwelled upon the special advantages that Haryana offered to automobile industry and pointed out that the state was manufacturing 60 per cent of cars, 50 per cent of tractors and 60 per cent of motorcycles produced in India.

Earlier, Fridrich Fruth, special delegate to the board of directors of BMW, in a presentation to the Haryana delegation explained the growth of the premium sector auto major BMW since its inception in 1917.

Klaus Berning, senior vice President BMW disclosed that Gurgaon was one of the sites for their proposed India project.

Chautala said that Haryana's location, good infrastructure, investor friendly policy and congenial environment coupled with the progressive outlook of the people, stable government and proactive political leadership as well as administrative machinery had made the state a destination for international brand names.

He said that a special economic zone was being planned over an area of 3000 acres at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) and it would be known as 'New Gurgaon'.

An infrastructure development fund was also being created for the purpose, he added.