Apollo Tyres today said it will invest around Rs 1,800 crore on a new plant in Andhra Pradesh, the company's seventh facility globally, to cater to the rising demand for passenger vehicle tyres. The foundation stone of the manufacturing plant at Chittoor district was laid by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The company said in a statement that it has purchased 200 acres of land for the facility and would be investing close to Rs 1,800 crore in the first phase. "The construction will start within the next 6 months, and the tyres are expected to start rolling out from this facility in the following 24 months," it added. The company said it plans to start with manufacturing of passenger vehicle tyres at this facility due to the growing demand in this segment and will expand later and start production of other categories as well. Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar S Kanwar said that while planning for the manufacturing facility, the company has provisioned for the future capacity expansion requirements in India for the next 5 years. The plant is expected to provide nearly 700 jobs and to many more indirectly in the first phase.
More jobs would be created later when the project is expanded. Apollo currently has 4 manufacturing facilities in India -- two (including a leased facility) in the rubber-producing state of Kerala, and one each in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Outside India, the company has a manufacturing facility each in The Netherlands and Hungary. Shares of Apollo Tyres were trading 0.63 per cent up at Rs 285.60 apiece on BSE.
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