SEREGNO, Italy—Off-highway tire maker Balkrishna Industries Ltd. has started production at its carbon black manufacturing facility in Bhuj, India, and is planning further expansions at the site.
Located within the company's Bhuj tire production site in the state of Gujarat, the plant currently produces 80,000 metric tons per year of hard grade carbon black.
BKT said in a Sept. 2 statement that it had raised its investment size in the plant to $75 million, up from the $23 million announced in 2017, to increase production capacity to 130,000 metric tons per year by 2021.
The additional 50,000 metric tons per year will be soft grade, BKT said.
According to BKT, the company has ramped up production to 80,000 metric tons per year through the end of the second quarter of 2019, up from 60,000 metric tons per year through the end of the first quarter. About 50 percent of the carbon black produced at the plant is being used in the company's tire manufacturing process, while the remaining 50 percent is sold on the market.
"This plant makes the difference and is definitely going to reward us," said Rajiv Poddar, joint managing director of BKT, adding that the unit provided both manufacturing independence and good quality raw materials.
"We now have precise upstream control over the entire process," he added.
BKT officially inaugurated the $482.5-million Bhuj tire plant in late 2016. The unit's daily production capacity is about 300 metric tons.
The Indian tire maker has announced plans to increase its global market share in the off-highway tire segment from 6 percent to 10 percent by 2025.