Balkrishna Industries takes U-turn, to operate both old and new plant at Waluj

In a bid to cater to the growing demand in the marketplace, Balkrishna Industries, a supplier of tyres to off-highway and agriculture segments has put off its plans to shut its old plant in Waluj, Maharashtra. Instead, it will use it to meet incremental demand along with the newly commissioned greenfield plant which is just five kms from the old plant. 

Given the current business outlook, the company has now decided to continue operations at both the plants along with modernising the old plant, the company said in a statement.

The capex of around Rs 350 crore allotted for it, will help bring economies of scale. This will take up the overall capacity to over 55,000 MTPA at a single site and is expected to be ready by H1FY24. “The achievable capacity will increase back to 3,60,000 MTPA by H1FY24 post commissioning of the Waluj brownfield project,” the company informed investors.

Secondly, the company's other brownfield plant commissioned at an investment of Rs 800 crore at Bhuj, Gujarat is expected to complete ramp-up in production by the second half of this fiscal year.

Likewise, the company's carbon black and captive power plant may be commissioned next month. Further, the project of advanced carbon material will be commissioned by Q4FY23. 

Balkrishna reported a net profit of Rs 404 crore during Q2FY23, registering a seven percent growth as against Rs 377 crore in Q2FY22. The revenues of the company stood at Rs 2,806 crore during Q2FY23, a jump of 35 percent from Rs 2,080 crore registered in Q2FY22.