A new state-of-the-art facility for the manufacture of motorcycle tyres for the local and international markets has been commissioned in Sri Lanka by CEAT Kelani Holdings, the company that manufactures half of the country’s tyre requirements.

Set up within the CEAT Kelani complex at Kelaniya with an initial investment of Rs 95 million, the new plant will operate as Asian Tyres (Pvt) Ltd., a member of CEAT Kelani Holdings.

It will have an initial capacity of 162,000 tyres a year in 17 sizes, some with all-new tread patterns that deliver improved performance in local conditions, the company said.

Commenting on this latest investment in capacity and category expansion in Sri Lanka, Vijay Gambhire, Managing Director and CEO of CEAT KelaniHoldings said the new plant would contribute to supplementary import substitution, enhance export earnings and further consolidate CEAT’s market share in the motorcycle tyre segment.

The company already accounts for 17 per cent of the motorcycle tyre market in Sri Lanka, in addition to its market shares of 30 per cent in the radial segment, 52 per cent in the Truck/Light Truck category, 48per cent in the 3-Wheeler segment and 73 per cent in the agricultural tyre segment.

The new motorcycle tyre plant was formerly commissioned by Chanaka De Silva, Chairman ofCEAT Kelani International Tyres (Pvt)Ltd.and AnantGoenka, Managing Director CEAT India, less than a year after CEAT KelaniHoldings officially inaugurated a new hi-tech Rs 600 million production facility in Sri Lanka for radial tyres for passenger cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), taking its cumulative investment in the country since 2009 to Rs 2.5 billion.

“We see potential for more growth in Sri Lanka through expansion of the domestic market in volume terms as well as new product development,” Mr Gambhireadded. “Exports already account for 30per cent of the revenue of our Sri Lankan operations, and we expect to build on this with our new investment as well as others in the pipeline.”

A global tyre brand present in 110 countries and now headquartered in India, CEAT is an acronym that stands for CaviElectriciAffini Torino, or Electrical Cables & Allied Products of Turin, with origins that date back to 1924 in Italy. A National Business Excellence Award winner in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and a National Quality Award winner in the ‘Manufacturing – Large’ category in 2013, CEAT – Kelani Holdings is a successful Indo-Sri Lanka joint venture between the RPG Group of India and Kelani Tyre Sri Lanka.