Business

Ruia to set up OTR plant in Assam

KOLKATA: Dunlop India Chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia plans to invest Rs. 60 crore to set up a new truck and oversized tyres (OTR) unit near Guwahati in Assam, even as he continues with his effort to stabilise the mother unit at Sahagunj here.

Addressing a press conference after the company’s annual meeting here, he said the Ambattur unit, closed earlier this year, will remain so for another month. He said wages were being paid to the workers.

“We have identified the problems that were obstructing our efforts to ramp up production at Sahagunj beyond 50 tonnes per day against a capacity of 130 tonnes.”

He said to overcome the power problems and as part of pruning production cost, plans were afoot to set up a coal-cum-rice husk-based power plant at Sahagunj. Talks were on with lenders both for the Assam and this project.

Mr. Ruia also divulged his plans on importing radial and bigger size tyres from East Asian countries saying that it would sell these products under its own brand.

On Aero tyres, he said the company was in talks with a U.K. company for a technology tie-up but there were market access issues which needed to be sorted out.

On Dunlop’s listing, he said all formalities had been completed in this respect and an appointment had been sought to find out why the company’s 35,000 shareholders were being denied this facility.

Shareholders in the meanwhile carried out a signature campaign to press their case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

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