Says expects beneficial impact on operating costs in public transport and carriage of goods

CEAT Kelani Holdings, which manufactures nearly half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements, has announced that it has already begun passing on the full benefit of the recent tax reductions to its customers.

While every segment of tyre users would benefit from the resulting reduction in the prices of tyres, the overall impact would be most significant in commercial segments, particularly bus and truck tyres and three-wheeler tyres, where the CEAT brand accounts for market shares of 65 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, the Company said.

“The decision to pass on of the full benefit of the tax reduction to our customers reduces operating costs in the transport of passengers and goods,” CEAT Kelani Managing Director Mr Ravi Dadlani said. “We therefore welcome the government’s decision to reduce taxes, and hope our dealers will in turn pass on the benefit to their customers.”

He disclosed that with the timely management by CEAT Kelani of the release of stocks to the market, the reduced prices would now apply to the bulk of the inventory of CEAT tyres held by dealers countrywide.

Considered one of the most successful India – Sri Lanka joint ventures in the manufacturing sector, CEAT Kelani’s manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka encompass pneumatic tyres in the radial (passenger cars, vans and SUVs), commercial (Bias-ply and radial), motorcycle, three-wheeler and agricultural vehicle segments. The brand accounts for market shares of 33 per cent in the radial segment, 65 per cent in the Truck category, 80 per cent Light Truck tyre category, 50 per cent in the Three-Wheeler tyre segment, 32 per cent in the motorcycle tyre segment and 72 per cent in the agricultural vehicle tyre category.

CEAT Kelani Holdings recently launched heavy duty, high-performance radial tyres engineered for domestic conditions for trucks, buses and prime movers, in a ground-breaking initiative that was part of a phased execution of Rs 3 billion investment announced in January 2018. The company imported custom-designed Italian machinery for a state-of-the-art production facility at the CEAT Kelani manufacturing complex in Kelaniya for the first locally-produced Truck Bus Radial (TBR) tyres in the market.

The Company also continues to manufacture Bias-ply tyres for the truck and bus segment of which about 55 per cent still uses these tyres.