MUMBAI, India (Jan. 27, 2009)—India's RPG Enterprises is proposing its Ceat Tyres Ltd. unit build a $145 million radial car and truck tire plant near Halol, Gujarat, according to terms of a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat state officials.
The plant would have an initial daily capacity of 100 to 150 metric tons, RPG said, with capacity set to expand to as much as 550 tons in subsequent phases. Exports would represent 25 to 40 percent of the plant's output, RPG said.
The Ceat plant is part of a $300 million building initiative RPG foresees in Gujarat. RPG disclosed its plans during a Global Investor's Summit organized by the government of Gujarat.
RPG Chairman Harsh Goenka said RPG is interested in investing in Gujarat because the state is “committed to rapid economic growth … and leading the industrialization rankings.”
The plant at Halol would be Ceat's third in India and first outside of Maharashtra state. Ceat was the 27th largest tire maker in the world in 2007 with sales of $646 million, according to Tire Business' annual global rankings. It is represented in North America by Tyres International Inc. in Stow, Ohio.