Tyre industry may commission Rs 21k cr projects in 4 yrs

The Indian tyre industry is expected to witness commissioning of projects worth Rs 21,000 crore in the next four years, according to rating agency ICRA.
Stating that the cash surplus industry continues to commission projects, ICRA said during FY2014-17, the industry commissioned Rs 11,500 crore worth of projects.
Among the upcoming projects, those closer to completion include the Rs 2,500-crore two-wheeler and passenger car radial (PCR) project of Maxxis at Sanand in Gujarat, Ceat's Rs 650 crore Halol plant for PCR and trucks and bus radial (TBR), and another Rs 800 crore two-wheeler tyre plant at Butobori (Maharashtra).
Besides, Bridgestone has also announced a Rs 2,800 crore PCR/TBR project, ICRA said, adding Kesoram would also be coming up with its Rs 800 crore PCR project at Balasore.

Giving a stable outlook to the domestic tyre industry over the near to medium term, ICRA said it is supported by favourable tyre demand, both domestic and exports, and likely improvement in realisation.
On the impact of demonetisation, ICRA said it had an adverse impact on the tyre industry, especially the rural- demand dependent two-wheelers (2W) segment.

"However, TBR segment benefited from demonetisation as the currency crunch brought down the un-organised segment import of Chinese TBR tyres, which are fed to the replacement market," it added.
ICRA, however, said falling TBR tyre imports is expected to be temporary and should pick up in FY2018.

"That said, with the United States International Trade Commission deciding not to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese TBR tyres, and China restarting exports to USA, aggressive dumping into India is likely to be under control," the ratings agency said.