Apollo Tyres finalising plans for new plant in South Asia

Apollo Tyres is finalising plans to set up a greenfield manufacturing unit in Thailand or Indonesia.

The company has operations in South Africa and Netherlands besides India now and is on the verge of zeroing in on a location in Thailand or Indonesia for setting up a greenfield facility for the manufacturing of passenger car tyres and truck and bus radials at an investment of around Rs 1,600 crore in the first phase.

"We are in the final stages of discussions with the Thailand and Indonesian authorities for the location of this facility and are aiming to get the unit ready in two years," said Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of Apollo Tyres.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 16,000 passenger car tyres and 1,500 truck/bus radials per day and will cater for the needs of the Asean region and China. The investment will be from internal accruals and debt.

"One of the factors why we have planned the unit in this region is that it is the hub for natural rubber," Neeraj Kanwar said. Thailand is the largest producer of natural rubber followed by Indonesia.

The new plant will help the company to achieve its aim of around Rs 32,500-crore turnover by 2016 that will catapult Apollo Tyres to the group of top ten global tyre manufacturers. With a production capacity of 1,750 tonne per day and a consolidated revenue of Rs 13,500 crore in 2011-12, the company is at the 16th position among global players. 

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