Bridgestone to invest Rs 263 crore in MP

Japanese tyre major in India Bridgestone India Private Limited is learnt to have investing Rs 263 crore in its Madhya Pradesh facility for capacity expansion. The expansion will include a new range of steel-belted radial tyres.

The company has demanded some sops and concessions for the project investment from Madhya Pradesh government and its proposal is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of Project Implementation and Clearance Board.

This is the first big expansion by the company since its inception in 1998. The company officials could not be contacted but proposal documents seen by BS reveals that the company has plans to increase the existing capacity by 4000-6500 tyres per day.

"The company has said that it has planned to complete the expansion by December 2008 to add another 1.5 lakh nos of tyres for all vehicles per annum," a government source told BS. The company officials could not be contacted.

Bridgestone has a plant in Kheda village (Pithampur industrial area near Indore) for manufacturing radial tyres. Bridgestone India Private Limited is a part of Japan based Bridgestone Corporation. It is one of the leading manufacturers of tyres in India.

"The company has made investments at various stages in the plant but this is the biggest after 1998 when the plant took shape with an investment of Rs 450 crore in Madhya Pradesh," the source said. It had demanded concessions and sops like entry tax exemptions, investment promotion assistance, etc., the state government would offer every possible support as notified in industry policy the source added.

It is learnt that the company will generate approximately 271 direct jobs.

At present the company produces approximately 2.7 million tyres each year. The product range of Bridgestone includes Light commercial vehicle steel belted radial tyres and tunes and passenger steel belted radial tyres and tubes.

Bridgestone tyres are used in passenger cars in India. The company also supplies them to a number of original equipment manufacturers.