Yokohama inaugurates first plant in India

On 22 February, the official opening ceremony for Yokohama India’s Bahadurgarh plant was held in the presence of regional and company dignitaries. Trial production has already begun at the plant ahead of a start of commercial manufacture in the second half of this year.

The facility is gearing up for volume production of the ‘Earth-1’ tyre, a product designed for the Indian market, and it will have an initial daily capacity of 2,000 tyres (700,000 tyres a year), a quarter of the intended peak capacity. At the opening ceremony, Yokohama India managing director Takeshi Fujino commented that the plant’s initial focus will be on producing passenger car tyres, and at a later date the portfolio will be broadened to include SUV and commercial vehicle tyres.

The factory is being built with a total investment of approximately ¥4.4 billion (£25.8 million) and is located some 25 miles/40 kilometres west of Delhi. The current workforce of around 100 is expected to grow to more than 300 by the end of this year.