Ceat lines up Rs 3,500 cr capex to ramp up production capacity

New Delhi: Tyre major Ceat has lined up capital expenditure investment of Rs 3,500 crore to ramp up manufacturing capacity across its plants over the next three to four years, as per the company's Annual Report for 2018-19.

Sharing information with shareholders, the RPG Enterprise flagship firm said it has already put in capital to expand its Halol (Gujarat) plant.

"The total investment in capacity expansion is Rs 3,500 crore, including the amount already incurred on the Halol commercial radial tyre expansion, with the remaining amount to be spent over the next 3-4 years," the company said.

The company has increased its commercial radial tyre capacity at Halol plant to 9.6 lakh tyres per annum, it added.

Ceat is also setting up a greenfield passenger car radial tyre plant near Chennai with an installed production capacity of 96 lakh tyres per annum with an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore.

Besides, the company is increasing its two-wheeler tyre capacity at Nagpur by 170 lakh tyres per annum.

"Both these projects are expected to be commissioned in FY20. These projects are expected to be ramped up over 18-24 months," Ceat said.

The expansion projects will be funded by a combination of internal accruals and debt, it added.

These capacity enhancements will enable Ceat to increase market share in the key focus category of commercial radial, passenger car, utility vehicle radial and two-wheeler tyre categories, it said.

The company has manufacturing facilities at Bhandup, Mumbai, Nashik, Halol and Nagpur. It also has an off-highway tyre manufacturing plant at Ambernath, Maharashtra, which commenced commercial production last fiscal.

Ceat currently exports tyres to around 100 countries. It has consolidated its position in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka by forming joint ventures (JVs) with strategic partners.