Apollo Tyres will be setting up a greenfield facility in
Eastern Europe in Hungary. According to an Apollo Tyres press release, Hungary
was chosen after a consideration of various factors over some of the
neighbouring Central Eastern European and Asian countries.
Apollo Tyres will invest Euro 475 million (Rs 3744 crore
approx.) over the next 5 years to setup this facility in the new industrial
zone near Gyongyoshalasz, Hungary. Once completed, the plant will have a
capacity to produce 5.5 million passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyres and
675,000 heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) tyres per annum. This facility will
produce both, Apollo and Vredestein branded tyres, and will cater to the entire
European market, and will complement Apollo Tyres’ existing facility in the
Netherlands, said the release.
Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director,
Apollo Tyres Ltd said that this investment would be the company’s first one
into a greenfield facility outside of India and would be a significant
milestone in the company’s international growth journey. “Our aim is to create
a benchmark manufacturing facility, which would further increase our
competitive strength in the European market,” he said.
Peter Szijjarto, Parliamentary State Secretary to the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Hungary said that
Apollo’s Hungarian investment is an important step in the re-industrialisation
of Hungary.
The chosen site is less than 100 km from the capital city
of Budapest and meets the needs of Apollo Tyres including having close
proximity to various OEM manufacturers as potential customers. The company will
soon start the process of applying for necessary permissions and licenses to
setup the facility. Similarly, the process towards Environmental Impact
Assessment will be started soon. The construction of this plant is expected to
start in the spring of 2015 and the first tyre is likely to roll out in early
2017.
Kanwar further added that apart from providing direct job
to 975 people, of which majority would be hired locally, this facility will
also lead to creation of indirect jobs and contribute significantly to the
development of the region.
Currently, Apollo Tyres has four manufacturing units in
India, three in southern Africa and one in the Netherlands. The combined
production capacity of all facilities put together is 1,700 tonnes per day.
Picture caption:
Peter Szijjarto, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs and Trade, Government of Hungary with Neeraj Kanwar of Apollo Tyres