Tyre Corpn Gets Rs 4 Crore To Resume Tangra Assembly Line

The government will give Calcutta-based Tyre Corporation of India Ltd Rs 4 crore to resume production at its industrial rubber unit at Tangra.

D N Bannerjea, the chairman-cum-managing director of the public sector unit, told Business Standard: "The amount is just sufficient for us to barely start operations. A minimum of Rs 37 crore is needed for repair and renovation in the unit. This amount will also provide for a braided hose project in the unit."

But he added the government was not willing to invest that amount. "With Rs 4 crore we will just somehow have to make do."

Industrial rubber production at Tangra was stopped in 1993 due to lack of funds. The government offer came in January 1997.

"From June onwards we will start operations in the industrial rubber unit, and with the money we will be receiving we can repair the machines for the manufacture of industrial hose, transmission belting and conveyer belting machines," Bannerjea said.

The government has agreed to pay the company Rs 125 crore for modernising the tyre unit at Kankinara, as per the directions of the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Bannerjea admitted that as there was no working capital for the company, the only thing left to be done in this unit was jobbing.

The company was manufacturing for tyre majors like Apollo, Ceat, and J K Tyres.

"But this did not bring any stable income," Bannerjea said. "The total capacity of the plant is around 55,000 tyres per month, and a maximum of 60 per cent of the capacity is utilised through jobbing," he added. This figure varies and according to Bannerjea, last month only 45 per cent of the capacity was utilised. The net loss of the company was Rs 44.57 crore in 1995-96, as against Rs 44.75 crore in 1994-95.