Bridgestone to make TBRs

Bridgestone Corporation is to begin truck and bus radial tyre (TBR) production in India to meet growing demand for its products in India. The total investment will be approximately $36.7 million (Rs 165 crore), with production scheduled to begin in the first half of 2011. Production capacity is expected to reach approximately 400 units per day by the second half of 2012.

In India, TBR demand is expected to continue to grow due to the speedy expansion of expressways and other road infrastructure. This increase of the road network is the result of the economic growth in India as well as the introduction of higher-performance trucks.

The Bridgestone Group plans to expand its operations at the Indore plant, which currently manufactures passenger car and light truck tyres, in order to produce the new TBR products.

H Tanigawa, managing director, Bridgestone India, said: “India is growing rapidly, and its potential seems to be unlimited. Therefore our decision to produce TBRs is in response to ever-increasing demand in the Indian market. We are now going to put more focus on the Indian market than ever before, and are looking for newer possibilities to grow in terms of volumes and numbers.”

The tyre manufacturer's 12-year-old Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh is already undergoing a $56.3 million expansion project to boost auto and light truck tyre capacity by 40 percent to 15,000 tyres a day by mid-2010.