TIRUNELVELI, India (Oct. 6, 2009)—Alliance Tire Co. (1992) Ltd. has begun production of farm tires at its $100 million plant in Tirunelveli and expects to begin commercial production before year-end.
The plant will focus initially on bias-ply farm and OTR tires, freeing up capacity at the firm's headquarters plant in Hadera, Israel, for increased radial output, the company said when it announced plans for the Indian plant in early 2008.
The factory recently initiated pre-commissioning and start-up testing. One of the first tires produced—a 550/60-22.5 Flotation tire—was signed by Alliance's management and production teams and is now being displayed at the plant.
An official inauguration event and announcement of the plant are expected in a few weeks.
The company said it has introduced three new product families in the last two months, each of which answers a need of a different industry.
Hadera-based Alliance was taken over in mid-2007 by an investment group put together by former senior management of India's Balkrishna Tyres Ltd., with backing from international financiers Warburg-Pincus L.L.C.