Birla Tyre Planning Greenfield Project

B K Birla Group chairman Basant Kumar Birla has announced plans for an £85 million greenfield tyre factory in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The plant, to be built near the city of Haridwar, where the company has already acquired a 42 hectare site, will have a production capacity of 1.7 million passenger car tyres per year. The plant is anticipated to be ready within the next two years and is to be funded through internal accruals and loans.

Birla Tyres entered the Indian market in 1991 and today is India’s fifth largest tyremaker, with production facilities in the eastern state of Orissa. The plant in Balasore, Orissa was set up with technical assistance from Pirelli UK, and has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tyres, including passenger car and light commercial radials as well as bias car, truck and agricultural tyres. Birla Tyres states that its products are exported to 43 countries.