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INDIA RUBBER EXPO
our strategy is to consolidate in the South and expand in the North,” informed K V Tolin, Managing Director, Tolins Tyres Pvt Ltd at the Rubber Expo organised in Delhi.
The firm has the capacity to manufacture around 2,000 tonnes per month but is currently producing around 1,300 tonnes only due to the continuing recession in the industry. “Increasing radialisation has adversely affected the retreading sector,” observed Tolin. “The domestic retreading market is down by almost 50 per cent as radials have a long initial life. Nylon tyres are ready for the first retreading after 30,000 km, whereas radials only come for retreading after 100,000 km,” he said. At the same time Tolins is gearing up
to open an enlarged 30,000 sq feet plant in Ras Al-Khaimah near Dubai in the UAE. “The new plant will most likely be operational early April this year,” Tolin informed. The plant is to be set up with an investment of around INR 10 crore (about US$ 1.6 million) and will have a production capacity of 300 tonnes per month. The plant will produce pre-cure and conventional tread rubber, bonding gum and vulcanising solution. “The plant will cater for the markets of the UAE and adjoining Middle Eastern countries,” Tolin added.
Tolins has been manufacturing only bonding gum at the UAE plant, but the addition of the new building will allow the company to produce a complete range.
and three two-tyre steam chambers. With radial tyres increasingly coming into the market, retreaders are also gearing up to meet the challenge of retreading radials. “The entry of radials has also affected the business as bias ply tyres are brought for retreading more times than radials,” he added.
The retreading industry is largely of the view that retreading should be termed as recycling, and that it should
be exempted from various kinds of government taxes. There is also an uneven level of VAT levied in industry in Punjab compared to other North Indian states. Many feel that these inconsistencies should be rectified in order to improve the business environment. The industry is eagerly awaiting the implementation of GST which will simplify as well as unify the taxation regime.
Combine Retread to Set Up Third Unit in 2016
One of the largest retreaders in Himachal Pradesh, Combine Retreads, is planning to open a new plant in Rampur. The Himachal state government has announced a power project in Rampur, which is expected to open up the region. “Moreover, as we are known for quality and running two plants successfully for almost two decades, many transporters travel all the way from Rampur to get their tyres retreaded, as they do not want their tyres to be retreaded by small unorganised players,” explained Harpreet Singh of Combine Retreads. “We are waiting for the power project to kick-start and in all likelihood the plant would come up in 2016,” Singh said. The company is a Vamshi franchisee and maintains a long term relationship with the Hyderabad based supplier. “We have been using Vamshi treads since 1999 and it is doing really well in the hilly Himachal terrain,” claimed Harpreet Singh. The Rampur plant is expected to retread 700 tyres per month.
Combine Retreads have two plants in Shogi near Shimla (the capital of Himachal Pradesh) and at Darlaghat. The company retreads a total of 2,000 tyres per month across the two units. “We source around 16 tonnes of tread rubber, on an average two vehicles every month,” informed Balwinder Singh, partner in Combine Retreads. The company also uses Vamshi equipment - i.e one 7 tyre chamber at each plant.
Commenting on the potential of the Himachal Pradesh market, Gopal
Sood, the company’s third partner stated, “Himachal is the state with most potential in terms of retreading in Northern India due to its hilly terrain and the number of power and hydel projects announced by the government. All new projects when started would lead to vehicular movement and bring business to the retreading plants.”
Combined Retreads caters to an area of around 150 km and its clientele includes commercial establishments, fleet owners etc. “Though there has been a slowdown in the market during the last few years, we continue to grow due to our strength in retaining clients,” Sood said. Once the winter season goes and summer sets in, the market will most likely pick-up again.
The firm is also facing a challenge from unorganised small retread shops coming from all over Himachal Pradesh. “Himachal Pradesh has around 250 small and big retread shops. The majority of them are small shops using basic equipment like bonders. Therefore, the market is good enough if it goes into the hands of organised retreading companies,” Singh said.
Meanwhile the retreader is upbeat with regards to the new government’s announcement about implementing a unified tax regime GST, which is projected to bring a boon for the movement of goods travelling among states. “The GST implementation is long overdue and every industry is eagerly awaiting it,” Sood said.
Harpreet Singh (middle), Balwinder Singh and Gopal Sood (without turban) - partners in Combine Retreads.
Punjab Cold Tread to Modernise Plant
Indian retreading companies are now focusing on modernising their plants to improve production standards and product quality. With global brands in the tyre industry setting up their production bases in India and radial tyres replacing bias-ply, retreaders are now feeling the heat and are willing to spend money on modernisation to meet the impending challenge. Ludhiana based Punjab Cold Retread is also planning to modernise the plant, located on the highway to Amritsar.
Punjab Cold Tread is one of the oldest retreading plants in Punjab, and is known for maintaining quality in the region. “We retread around 700 tyres TBR per month with the precure process and 150 OTR by the conventional hot process,” said Managing Director Ravinder Singh. “Our idea now is to set up a modern precure plant in the North of India,” he said.
As part of the modernisation strategy, Punjab Cold Retread also plans to introduce precure OTR retreads – the
company currently retreads by the conventional process. “We are visiting the India Rubber Expo to look for ideas and modern equipment,” he said.
Punjab Cold Tread is a Vamshi franchisee and is regarded as a key retreader in Northern India. Once the modernisation is complete the production will be hiked to 1,200 tyres per month.
Discussing the challenges in the retreading sector, Singh said, “Labour is a major issue these days as most of the plants in Punjab depend on the migrator y labour force from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and they have stopped coming to Punjab for work.” Due to various government schemes of providing minimum wages for certain months annually by sitting idle in their village homes, migrator y labourers prefer to stay in the states. One of the other reasons for modernising the plant is to reduce dependency on labour and increase productivity.
Established in 1989, the plant covers
a geographical radius of 150 km including the districts of Ludhiana, Jullundhar, Ropar, Patiala and Sangrur. “We used to retread 1,000 tyres per month but then the slowdown came and production reduced to between 500 and 700 tyres per month,” he said. According to Singh, the slowdown has been exacerbated by the mushrooming of smaller plants in the region. “These plants kill our business. We are paying all kinds of government taxes whereas they are not paying, have no quality and are giving a bad name to the retreading industry,” he complained. Punjab Cold Retread has one seven-tyre electric chamber
Ravinder Singh, MD, Punjab Cold Tread