Apollo Tyres to add capacity of unit near Chennai

Will invest Rs 2,700 cr over next 3 years; Kalamassery unit to also have more capacity

Apollo Tyres is to invest  a further Rs 1,200 crore to  expand the radial bus and truck tyre making capacity at its factory near this city.

The facility is at Oragadam, about 60 km from here, in which Rs 2,100 crore is already invested. The current daily capacity is 6,000 truck and bus radial tyres, beside 16,000 passenger car tyres. Last year, it had said it would spend Rs 1,500 crore to expand the bus and truck capacity to 8,900 tyres a day. This has been revised to Rs 2,700 crore and 12,000 bus and truck tyres a day, in the next three years.

Apollo has four factories in India -- two others in Kerala (at Perambra, near Thrissur, and at Kalamassery, close to Kochi) and one at Limda, close to Baroda in Gujarat. The Baroda and Oragadam units together export around 100,000 bus and truck tyres a month to Europe.

The board of directors on Tuesday approved the raising of Rs 2,000 crore debt to meet the capital expenditure  requirement for ongoing and proposed expansions at the Oragadam and Kalamassery units. Company officials had earlier said they planned to invest Rs 400-500 crore for expanding the off-highway tyre making capacity at Kalamassery. The aim is to raise the daily capacity on these from 30 tonnes to 110 tonnes over the next 18 to 24 months.