Indian Manufacturers Expanding TBR, OTR Production

JK Tyre, India’s first TBR manufacturer, has responded to moves from other manufacturers to join this sector by boosting capacity at its facility in Mysore, southwest India, from 370,000 to 500,000 tyres per year, a target that will be met in 2009. Competition in this market sector is heating up in India: Apollo has already established a pilot TBR facility and during the coming quarter will consider the viability of further expansion. Ceat, who currently sources its TBR tyres from Pirelli factories and from manufacturers in China, have in recent months sought international technical assistance for the establishment of a domestic greenfield factory. According to the Hindu Business Line newspaper proposals for this project may be finalised in the next quarter. The paper adds that MRF has also announced plans to set up a TBR capacity.

Three major manufacturers have also announced plans to increase OTR capacity; as previously reported, Apollo intends to bolster its capacity up to six-fold through an arrangement with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. JK Tyre has announced the establishment of a second OTR facility, in the state of Karnataka. The manufacturer will invest Rs1,200,000,000 (£15.47 million) in this project. And with its sights firmly set on the export opportunities to be gained through the production of OTR tyres for high tonnage vehicles, Ceat is setting up a new factory in the southwest state of Maharashtra.