Apollo subsidiary PTL to invest Euro 7 million in Kerala

ERJ staff report (DS)

Gurgaon, Haryana -- PTL Enterprises has given approval for a Rs 40 crore (Euro 7 million) green field tyre project in Kerala. The investment will be used to manufacture speciality tyres for the Indian market. The manufacturing unit will come up in the recently acquired land in Rubber Park 1 in Irapuram, Ernakulam district of Kerala.

Onkar Kanwar, Chairman, PTL Enterprises, said, “This is an additional capacity that we are bringing into PTL to expand the product range produced here, in addititon to the 90 tonnes produced every day at the Kalamassery plant. This will take the plant to the next level of manufacturing with modern machinery, technology and manufacturing processes. This new project along with the move to a larger area will allow PTL to expand its operations and product lines at a steady pace in the near future.”

In October 2007, PTL Enterprises announced plans to relocate its 90 tonnes a day tyre manufacturing unit in Kalamassery to Rubber Park 1 to enable capacity expansion. On the same day, a ground-breaking ceremony was undertaken at the new site. The Speciality Tyres plant with constitute Phase 1 of the gradual relocation of the Kalamassery plant to Rubber Park 1 in Irapuram.

The Kalamassery plant, then known as Premier Tyres, was been established in 1962 as a 30 tpd tyre manufacturing unit. PTL Enterprises acquired it in 1995 and has raised production and employment to 90 tdp to day. It produces truck, light truck and farm crossply tyres which are exported and also sold in India. The plant is on a long-term lease to Apollo Tyres Ltd. PTL Enterprise is also the holding company for Artemis Health Sciences