Bridgestone India (P) Ltd, manufacturers of tyres for passenger cars, trucks and buses, announced the opening of its second plant at Chakan in Pune on February 5, 2013. Inaugurated in the presence of Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra, Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO and Representative Board Member, Bridgestone Corporation and Kiyoshi Asako, Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, the plant is the outcome of an MOU signed between Bridgestone India and the Government of Maharashtra in April 2010 for an estimated investment of Rs 2,600 crore.

The plant is spread across an area of approximately 187 acres of land and when all the phases of expansion are complete it will have a capacity to produce 5,000 passenger car radial tyres daily by the end of December 2013 and about 1,000 truck and bus radial tyres per day by October 2013. The installed capacity is of around 10,000 passenger car radial tyres and 3,000 truck bus radial tyres per day.

At a press conference that followed the inauguration, Nishigai said, "India is growing rapidly and it will surely continue to do so in the future. This implies unlimited potential. The success in India is essential and inevitable for Bridgestone to be the undisputed No 1 tyre and rubber company in the world both in name and reality." The new plant will generate employment for approximately 1,800 people. According to Ajay Sevekari, Director-Human Resources and Purchase Logistics, Bridgestone India, the company has already recruited over 400 staff who are being trained at various levels on the production assembly lines.

Elaborating about the company's plans and growth potential, Hiromi Tanigawa, Managing Director, Bridgestone India, said, "The company has already spent Rs 1,500 crore out of the total amount planned in installing production facilities and the machines. India is the third-largest growing market for us after China and Japan and we are here for a long haul. We eventually foresee making India an export hub when the demand for radial tyres picks up in the global market."

There is also a plan to set up a research and development centre at Chakan. According to Tanigawa, while the passenger car radial tyres' market in India was growing at 10 per cent and truck and bus radial tyres at 5-7 per cent, the Bridgestone brand was growing higher than the industry. "At present the passenger car radial tyres constitutes 90 per cent and truck and bus radial tyres 20 per cent of the market demand," he said.

Bridgestone India established its first plant in India in Kheda, Madhya Pradesh, which started production in 1998. Within a short span of 14 years it became one of the leading tyre companies in both the OEM and replacement market, with a 2,500 dealership network across the country. Spread over an area of 76 acres, the plant has the capacity to manufacture 15,000 tyres per day for passenger cars and 400 tyres per day for trucks and buses. The Chakan plant is the company's 48th facility worldwide and when complete will rank amongst the largest single location plants globally.