The Hindu Business Line : Ceat plans to rope in consultant for radial foray

Mumbai, July 2 Ceat Ltd has decided to develop the truck and bus radial technology with help from leading international consultants who are familiar with the latest technology.

The company is in talks with consultants from US and Europe and is likely to tie up with one of them shortly, said Mr Arnab Banerjee, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing.

He added that this does not mean the company’s earlier plans to tie up with leading international tyre majors for technical knowhow has been dropped.

The company was in talks with players like Pirelli and will continue to do so.

“We decided to work on the technology on our own in parallel so that we did not waste time in order to enter the market with our product range.”

Ceat may tie up with a consultant within 2-3 months.

As and when this happens, its own set of people from the R&D Department would be working together with the consultant for the new project.

The company’s R&D Department will play a key role in the project.

Greenfield unit

The project, inclusive of developing the technology and setting up a greenfield facility for truck and bus radials, would take a lead time of 24-30 months, said Mr Banerjee.

The greenfield facility is likely to be set up in Gujarat, Uttaranchal or Tamil Nadu at an investment of Rs 500-600 crore.

Currently, the company imports 600-700 truck and bus radials every month from Pirelli’s plants in Egypt and Turkey.

It has also started importing from China and Vietnam on a clinic test basis.

With import of tyres from China, the company intends to create two brands in the commercial vehicle tyres segment to avoid cannibalisation of brands.

The Chinese tyres will be part of the ‘Economy’ range while the Pirelli tyres would come under the ‘Premium’ range.