Thursday, 16 March 2023 11:55

Meeting growing demand

Written by  Mark Daniel
BKT has plans to make 600,000 tonnes of tyres each year from 2026. BKT has plans to make 600,000 tonnes of tyres each year from 2026.

Indian tyre manufacturer BKT has plans to make 600,000 tonnes of tyres each year from 2026, when annual turnover is forecast to hit US$2 billion.

Already on a roll, BKT’s business has increased by 49% over the pre-pandemic period and expansion at the company’s prestigious Bhuj production plant in India will play a major role in increasing tyre numbers.

When the first tyres rolled off the production line in 2012, the Bhuj site covered 123ha. With more than US$500m invested over the ensuing years, the site has grown in stages to its current size of 258ha in 2022. Expansion plans mean it will expand even further to hit 323ha by the end of 2023.

The ambitious expansion plans means a major increase in staff numbers from the 4,776 people employed at the end of 2022. Meanwhile, the extra footprint being planned is needed to install the new machines needed to increase the volumes. These have risen from 92 tonnes a day in 2015 to the best-ever, 436 tonnes a day by the end of the 2022 year.

The expansion will also include a dedicated rubber track manufacturing plant, alongside space for six different test tracks. These will include circuits for performance tests on a variety of different surfaces in dry and wet conditions. These will offer the ability to measure parameters such as traction, handling, comfort and soil compaction.

A further strategic choice at the Bhuj site MARK DANIEL This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. was to invest in its own carbon black plant, which came into operation in 2017. This has led to a current total annual production of 165,600 tonnes of the essential tyre component.

“People have asked me if all this was really necessary, so much in such a short time?” explains Rajiv Poddar, joint managing director at BKT.

“Growth has always been in step with demand.

And we see global tyre demand growing, with no signs of it slowing down over the next five years. The journey we started out on at Bhuj in 2012 was never a return journey, but one to prepare ourselves to discover the future.”

More like this

Farmer-led group buys Novag

While the name and technology remain unchanged and new machines will continue to carry the Novag name, all the assets, intellectual property and staff of the French manufacturer have been acquired by a new organisation called Agriculture Nouvelle Génération.

Featured

Farmers urged not to be complacent about TB

New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.

Editorial: Making wool great again

OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.

National

Machinery & Products

Farmer-led group buys Novag

While the name and technology remain unchanged and new machines will continue to carry the Novag name, all the assets,…

Buhler name to go

Shareholders at a special meeting have approved a proposed deal that will see Buhler Industries, the publicly traded Versatile and…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Make it 1000%!

OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…

Own goal

OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter