Dunlop India Confirms Aero Tyre Plans

Dunlop India has reiterated its intention to re-enter the aero tyre market. In July the company’s vice-president Dhrubojyoti Nandi reported Dunlop India was “focused to take advantage” of the country’s aviation boom, and in recent months it appears that the company’s factory in Sahaganj, in the state of West Bengal, has been earmarked for this purpose.

“We hope that it will start production in another two months,” chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia told The Times of India. The newspaper printed reports that the company aims to achieve an output of 90 tonnes per day at the Sahaganj facility by the end of October and 130 tonnes by the end of March 2008, the close of India’s current fiscal year.

Further comment was also made on the group’s intention to gear up for OTR tyre production through its Falcon Tyres operation. These products, if and when they are produced, will be marketed under the Dunlop brand, not under the Falcon Tyres label as previously reported. The latter brand name will continue to see use exclusively on tyres for two and three wheeled vehicles.