Yokohama Confirms India Site Acquisition

A greater presence within India is on the cards for Yokohama Rubber after its April 18 confirmation that it had, eight days earlier, signed an agreement with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to acquire a 25-acre (101,250 square metre) business site at the corporation’s industrial estate in Bahadurgarh. News of this deal was first reported by India’s media at the start of April but not confirmed by the Japanese manufacturer until now.

Yokohama Rubber has unfolded its Indian business since April 2007 when the company established Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary. The current business site acquisition also forms a part of this activity and Yokohama Rubber says it is now planning to work out details on how to utilise the acquired site. A report previously released by the Indo-Asian News Service indicates that the company will invest Rs 9 billion (£112.9 million) into the project, and about 900 jobs will be created.

The company comments that, even whilst the new site is under construction, Yokohama India will continue to strengthen its efforts to develop a market for Yokohama brand tyres, an activity commenced in July 2007 when the promotion of replacement passenger car tyres through the company’s own network began.

The rationales behind Yokohama Rubber’s decision to acquire a business site in the Bahadurgarh industrial estate include:

The site is located less than 45 kilometres west of downtown Delhi and Delhi International Airport, thus close to one of the largest areas of consumption in India.

A significant improvement in road access to the area is expected with the completion of KMP Highway (Delhi Metropolitan Ringway), near the industrial estate, in 2009.

The site will be directly connected to Delhi via a commuter rail service in 2010.
Haryana State University of Technology is located less than kilometres from the site, so therefore excellent human resources are readily at hand.