Apollo Tyres commissions Greenfield facility at Andhra Pradesh

Apollo Tyres has commissioned its greenfield facility located in Chinnapanduru village in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, which is spread over 256 acres. This will be Apollo Tyres’ seventh manufacturing unit in the world and fifth in India.

By 2022, this plant will have a capacity to produce 15,000 passenger car tyres and 3,000 truck-bus radials per day. Gradually, as the demand improves, the capacity will be ramped-up in the next 12-18 months. The company will be investing Rs 3,800 crore in phase I of this greenfield facility. Half of this capex is expected to be funded through debt. Considering the pandemic crisis and weak demand in automobile sector, the company might defer its capex plans over next few years.

This manufacturing execution system (MES) integrated plant has been set-up using 35,000 tonnes of steel and around 1.23 lakh cubic metre of concrete, with 12 million man hours of construction work. Currently, the built-up area of this facility is 2,16,000 square metres.

This facility has been designed to accommodate roof-top solar panels, to be introduced in a phased manner, for optimum usage of natural light for the shop-floor with an eco-friendly power source and as a zero water discharge facility with an in-built effluent treatment plant (ETP) and environment-friendly coolants. To improve productivity and reduce human fatigue, ergonomically-balanced and weight optimised material handling equipment has been used across the facility.

Its four other manufacturing units in India are located at Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Perambra and Kalamassery (Kerala) and Limda as well as two global units at Netherlands and Hungary. As part of its long-term strategy, the company aims to reach the highest grade of customer preference and has come up with innovative plans by applying various resources in the last few financial years. Its tyres are now standard fitment in the top eight car brands of the top ten highest selling cars.

On Thursday, the stock of Apollo Tyres closed 3.07 per cent higher at Rs 112.30 from its previous close of Rs 108.95 on BSE.