Delhi-based Apollo Tyres has announced investment of Rs 1,800 crore towards the setting up of a new manufacturing facility for passenger vehicle tyres located in Chinnapanduru village, Chittoor district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh bordering the south eastern coast of India.

Apollo Tyres has purchased 200 acres of land from the AP Govt for the manufacturing facility, and would be investing close to Rs 1800 crores in the first phase. Under the first phase the new facility will have a initial capacity for producing 5.5 million tyres per annum.

The construction for the plant is expected to start within the next 6 months, and the tyres are expected to start rolling out from this facility in the following 24 months. The company plans to start with manufacturing of passenger vehicle tyres in this facility, due to the growing demand in this segment, and will later on expand to start producing other product categories as well.

The tyre manufacturer says the new plant will provide direct jobs to around 700 people, and the new facility is part of its plan to meet increased demand from the passenger vehicle segment.  The investment will be done through a mix of internal accruals and raised capital. 

Speaking on the occasion N Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister, Govt of Andhra Pradesh said, “I am very delighted to have Apollo Tyres, the Indian multinational, after setting its world-class facilities in Chennai and Hungary recently, now setting-up a state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh. This will provide direct jobs to nearly 700 people and to many more indirectly, in the first phase. The employment opportunity would further get increased when the company expands in the future.” 

Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres said, “While planning for this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, we have provisioned for the future capacity expansion requirements in India for the next five years and more. We are thankful to the AP Govt for excellent cooperation received from them so far, and are confident of getting the same going forward as well towards the smooth construction and management of this facility.” 

Apollo Tyres currently has four manufacturing facilities in India -- two (including a leased facility) in the rubber-producing state of Kerala, and one each in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Outside India, the company has a manufacturing facility each in Netherlands and Hungary.