Apollo Tyres today said it would invest around Rs 500 crore in the next 5 years in setting up a greenfield radial tyre manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu."We intend to build one of the finest and most progressive radial tyre manufacturing units here in Oragadam. We will be investing Rs 300 crore in the first stage, with the final investment reaching between Rs 450 to 520 crore by the end of 5 years," Onkar S Kanwar, MD of Apollo Tyres, said.The company has signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to acquire 135 acres of land, in the Oragadam Industrial Park, near Sriperumbudur for the construction of a radial facility, according to an official release issued today."The radial technology which will be used, is currently being developed by us in Apollo, using our internal R&D expertise. This fresh capacity will allow us to produce technology products across categories for both the original equipment and replacement markets," Onkar said.The Tamil Nadu unit will be used exclusively for the manufacture of high quality truck, bus and light truck radial tyres, along with high and ultra-high performance passenger car radial tyres for the domestic and export markets, the release said.The company expects to complete the Tamil Nadu project within a time span of 24 to 36 months, it said, adding that the location was preferred over others due to its proximity to the rubber growing region, the presence of automobile manufacturers in the state, good connectivity to the domestic market and proximity to a port for ease of import of raw materials and export of finished products.
