Indian Fleet Owner Looks to China

In a move that shows that not even up and coming players in the tyre world can afford to be complacent, a large Indian transport provider has ordered a trial run of tyres from China to evaluate their value for money.

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) plans to purchase 400 radial tyres from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer. BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade confirmed the company’s intention recently when speaking to media. “We have submitted our requirement of 400 tyres to the Association of State Road Transport Undertaking (ASRTU), which is headed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. If we get radial tyres at reasonable rates, then we will think of buying them,” said Khobragade.

BEST currently has a supply contract with India’s J K Tyres, and use approximately eight to ten thousand tyres per year, so any switch to supply from a Chinese manufacturer is, in India, bound to be a controversial move. But financial concerns ultimately outweigh national loyalties. In the words of Sandeep Jhaki, BEST’s superintendent of transport, “These tyres will not improve the performance of the vehicle in any way. But if we get it at cheaper rates than the Indian manufacturers’, the administration will be pleased to purchase them.”

The Mumbai based transport company recently ordered 20 luxury buses from China’s King Long Buses, increasing the size of their fleet to a total of 71 buses.