Kesoram to invest almost £30M in PCR tyre production

The chief financial officer of Kesoram Industries reports that the company will invest Rs 3 billion (£29.3 million) into passenger car radial tyre production. Tridib Kumar Das told Indian financial daily Business Standard that the investment will be made in addition to the Rs 5 billion already spent on the car radial project, and that the company intends to bring its passenger car radials to market in May 2016.

This information was given at Kesoram Industries’ Annual General Meeting on 12 December. Das also mentioned the sale of Kesoram’s Birla Tyres factory in Laksar-Haridwar (Uttaranchal state) to JK Tyre & Industries for just under Rs 22 billion (£214.6 million). He referred to the sale as part of a restructuring of the company’s tyre business, adding that “we were not utilising our existing capabilities in the tyre segment fully.” The loss of production capacity in Laksar-Haridwar will be compensated for by an increase in production at the plant in Balasore (Odisha state), he told Business Standard, adding that Kesoram Industries’ revenues from tyres will not be affected by the divestment.

According to Birla Tyres the Laksar-Haridwar plant, which currently is capable of producing 4.4 million truck tyres a year, was built with an investment of Rs. 23 billion.