Spread over 163 acres, the TN plant is the sixth plant of Ceat Tyres after Mumbai, Nasik, Nagpur, Ambernath and Halol in Gujarat. The company has committed to invest around Rs 4,000 crore in total.
Leading tyre maker Ceat Tyres on Wednesday inaugurated a greenfield manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Set up with an initial investment of Rs 1,400 crore, the plant was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. Spread over 163 acres, the TN plant is the sixth plant of Ceat Tyres after Mumbai, Nasik, Nagpur, Ambernath and Halol in Gujarat. The company has committed to invest around Rs 4,000 crore in total and it will be in phases, said Anant Goenka, managing director, Ceat Tyres. In the first phase, the firm has invested Rs 1,400 crore, he added.
Interacting with mediapersons, Goenka said the plant would make radial passenger vehicle tyres as well motorcycle radial tyres. While the capacity of passenger vehicle (PV) tyres will be 28,500 units a day, that of motorcycles will be 2,500 units a day. Initially, the tyre maker will begin with 10,000 tyres of PV segment, he added. "It is one of the most advanced tyre plants in South Asia with a capability of serving developed markets and high-end OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). The company, which exports tyres to 90 countries globally, will begin export from its TN plant soon," he said. "We will be tapping Europe and Middle East countries from this plant initially and then expand to other countries."
Responding to a question, Goenka said, "We have number of OEMs in India as customers and have been supplying to them from our other plants. We have been talking to companies such as Hyundai India, Renault, Nissan and others to supply from this plant and post their inspection, we may begin supply in the next three to six months. The new plant will employ 350 people in the first phase, of which 20% will be women. Post-complete expansion with a total investment of Rs 4,000 crore, the plant will have 1,000 employees in total, of which 40% will be women staff."
The plant will also supply tyres to Royal Enfield and BMW, among other premium two-wheeler OEMs. In addition to this, he added the firm will also consider making speciality tyres and commercial vehicles in future. "With this plant, we are more than doubling our PV tyre capacity. We have enough land to expand this facility further."
According to him, currently, 60% of the company's total production in India goes to aftermarkets, 10% to OEMs and the rest to export markets. "With the launch of this plant, we hope to see the OEMs share will shoot up sharply as number of OEMs located near Chennai," Goenka said. "Once the plant goes in full swing, the company will add Rs 2,000 crore more to its top line."
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