CEAT Kelani, a joint venture company of CEAT India and Kelani Tyres, Sri Lankan firm has commissioned new hi-tech production plant for radial tyres for passenger cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

new radial tyre production facility enables the company to augment its radial tyre building and curing capacity by 70 per cent to 450,000 tyres a year, thereby substituting more than 60 per cent of the country’s imports in this category.

Since 2009, the CEAT Kelani joint venture has invested Rs 2.5 billion in enhancing capacity, modernising its factory and setting up this new radial plant.

Besides contributing to a substantial saving of foreign exchange, the new plant would also cater to CEAT Kelani’s exports of radial tyres from Sri Lanka.

More than a third of current radial tyre production from the company’s production facility is exported.

Speaking at the event, CEAT Kelani Chairman Chanaka De Silva said the post conflict resurgence of Sri Lanka has provided companies with a fresh incentive to grow, and the new radial tyre production facility that has just been declared open is only part of this commitment.

All products that come out of the new radial plant are engineered to provide all-round performance and meet the expectations of the discerning segment of radial tyre users who drive expensive Japanese and European vehicles.

The market leader in Sri Lanka in both the radial and commercial tyre segments, CEAT has accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the country’s tyre requirements since the second quarter of 2013-14, contributing to a massive saving of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka through import substitution.

The brand currently has market shares of 55per cent for tyres in the Truck/Light Truck category, 31 per cent in radials, 44 per cent in 3-Wheeler, 19 per cent in motorcycle and 73 per cent in the agricultural segments.

Of CEAT Kelani’s total monthly production of 1,450 tons, about 500 tons or a third is exported to markets in South Asia, the Middle East, the African continent and many other countries, and is finding international acceptance.