The board of JK Tyre & Industries Ltd has approved a Rs 1,430-crore expansion of its tyre factory near Chennai, said Raghupati Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director.
The company will expand its truck and bus radial tyre capacity to 12 lakh tyres a year from the present four lakh and passenger car radials to 40 lakh from 25 lakh tyres now.
This will help it retain its market share of 40 per cent in the truck and bus segment and 22 per cent in cars, he told reporters.
The details relating to funding the expansion will be worked out soon, Singhania said. The project will be commissioned in 15 months.
Singhania was confident that despite the current slowdown, demand will bounce back in a couple of quarters.
The company reported a net profit Rs 64 crore on an income of Rs 1,943.4 crore for the quarter ended September 30. During the corresponding period last year, JK Tyre had reported a net profit of Rs 67.38 crore on an income of Rs 1,868 crore.
The company is strengthening its presence in the original equipment manufacturing segment.
US-based farm and construction equipment maker John Deere opened a new tractor plant in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, earlier this week. Singhania said all three models of tractors produced at this plant were fitted with JK’s tyres.
The company also supplies tyres to Bharat Benz, he added.