Apollo breaks ground on Indian OTR tyre plant

Tire Business staff report

Limda, India -- Apollo Tyres Ltd. has broken ground in Limda for a Rs 950 million (Euro 16 million) factory expansion dedicated to off-the-road (OTR) tyres, with production expected to start before mid-2009.

The project, at Apollo's headquarters plant in Limda, Gujurat Province, will focus initially on cross-ply tyres in rim diameters up to 57 inches, the company said. The company also plans to add capacity for radial OTR tyres in a second phase project, which will require additional, undisclosed investments.

The project, with an initial daily capacity of 10 metric tons, marks Apollo Tyres' entry into the OTR segment. The capacity will be scaled up to 60 tons a day over the following three years, Apollo said.“Buoyancy in the mining and construction industries globally, has led to a demand-supply gap in OTR tyres, including in India,” said Onkar Kanwar, chairman and managing director. “Various earthmover equipment manufacturers have shown eagerness to get into agreements with us that allow them exclusive access to our OTR production.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)