Japanese tyre major Bridgestone Corporation has begun production of passenger cars radials at a greenfield plant at Chakan, its second facility in India.
Manufacture of tyres for trucks and buses will begin in October, said Hiromi Tanigawa, Managing Director, Bridgestone India Pvt Ltd.
The project, to be completed in phases, involves an estimated investment of Rs 2,600 crore at the end of which the company will have installed capacity to make 10,000 passenger car tyres and 3,000 tyres for buses and trucks per day. Around 60 per cent of the projected investment has been made so far.
Built to cater mainly to the Indian market, Bridgestone expects capacity utilisation for passenger car tyres by December 2014 and for bus and truck tyres by the end of 2017.
There is room for expansion and this will be undertaken as per demand, Tanigawa said, adding that exports may also be considered at a later stage.
Bridgestone has already achieved capacity utilisation at its first plant at Kheda near Indore where it makes 15,000 radials for cars and 400 for trucks and buses per day.
The Chakan plant is the company’s 48th facility worldwide and when complete will rank amongst the largest single location plants globally.
Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO and Representative Board Member, Bridgestone Corporation, said that the company was presently training Indian engineers at Tokyo, and may have an R&D Centre in India in the future.