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NEPAL
Bindeshwori Evaluating Foray into Indian and African Retreading Market
been using Indag right from the beginning and also supplying to a few plants in Nepal as part of developing our franchisee business,” said Shrestha.
The plant was badly bruised during the earthquake as the shocks were so intense that one of the company’s autoclaves dislocated from its position, and a couple of
Indag autoclaves. “Our second plant started about five years ago at a location called Jadibuti, and retreads around 2,000 tyres yearly on a four-tyre autoclave. Both the plants are installed with the machiner y supplied by Indag,” he said. The plant retreads variety of tyres starting from cars to mini bus to TBRs.
Despite the primitive and low-end nature of the market, Elgi has survived for more than two decades in Nepal and remains one of the most successful franchisee networks in the Himalayan kingdom. Elgi is regarded as a premium tread rubber brand in a price sensitive market and remains a major force in the Nepalese retreading industry. Kathmandu based Gandakey Group subsidiary Bindeshwori Tyre & Tread has been a pioneer of the Elgi franchisee format in Nepal for over 20 years. “We have been with Elgi right from the beginning, and now it’s a 23 year-old strong relationship. All these years we have been able to develop a strong franchise network spread over 12 plants in different
tyres retreaded at the outlet brings more money to both stakeholders,” he explained.
The company says it is the main company following the franchise system in an organised manner. Others have followed and tried to emulate in their own way to suit their business requirements but at a much smaller level.
“We procure around 20 tonnes of tread from Elgi each month for our 12 plants. The quantity reaches up to 23 tonnes in the summer season, when demand is at the peak,” he stated. The 12 plants are installed with around 14 tyre chambers, consuming around 250 tonnes of tread annually by all units. Meanwhile, the company has plans
Saroj Shrestha, Managing Director, PK Cold Retreading Pvt Ltd.
Yogyeshwor Pokhrel, Managing Director, Bindeshwori Tyre and Tread
parts of Nepal,” said Yogyeshwor Pokhrel, Managing Director, Bindeshwori Tyre and Tread, the man who is responsible for developing the network in Nepal.
The franchise network developed as partnership between Bindeshwori Tyre and a retread company. “The property and majority 80 per cent of the investment is from our side and rest from the franchise partner. The partner’s investment involves him directly in the business, and more
to enter the Indian and African markets by building retreading plants. “We are evaluating a foray in India, and are looking at setting-up a retreading plant in Mumbai. Africa is another market, where we are considering entry, but not before studying the market. We are planning to visit Tyrexpo Africa and some other adjoining markets post show next year and may be in a position to take a decision by the middle of 2017,” he said.
factor y walls collapsed, although these have since been rebuilt. Commenting on the market, he complained; “Too many small retreaders are now operating in the market creating intense competition. These retreaders barely have the basic machiner y required, but they have spread all over Nepal and are harming the organised players. The market is currently down, and we are operating on the goodwill created during past years. The retread plant is located in the transport hub on the Prithvi Highway named after the king Prithvi Narayan Shah and was helped to be built by the Chinese government in the seventies. The key 174 km long highway connects the Nepalese Capital with Pokhara, a tourist city in the western part of Nepal.
The K athmandu plant retreads 4,500 tyres annually by eight-tyre
Commenting on the state of the road infrastructure in Nepal, he said, “The government is not giving due attention to building or improving the road infrastructure in the countr y. The existing road conditions are really bad, and unless the road network improves, the plight of the retreading industr y will remain precarious. The bad roads damage the tyre casings badly, reducing retreading life to just one time. If the roads were improved there would be more chances to increase the number of retreads on single casing.”
PK Cold also retreads tyres by the traditional hot process but this has been almost phased out of the market in last decade. “The hot plant has been laying idle for the last five years as the market has almost completely converted to pre- cure,” he said.
PK Cold Keen on Expanding Franchisee Business
Gandakey Group to Launch Aggressive Marketing Drive to Improve Volumes
Kathmandu based PK Cold Retreading is keen on expanding in the franchisee business. However, the company, one of the largest retreaders in the Nepalese capital, has no plans to expand its two retreading plants in the prevailing slow market conditions.
“We are very much interested in building the franchisee network and we are already supplying tread
rubber to a couple of plants which started recently,” said Saroj Shrestha, Managing Director, PK Cold Retreading Pvt Ltd.
The company first started retreading about fifteen years ago and is regarded as one of the key retreaders in K athmandu. It has stayed loyal to Delhi-headquartered Indag Rubber for tread rubber and equipment all these years. “We have
Organised retreading in Nepal commenced in the nineties when Coimbatore headquartered Elgi Rubber forged an alliance with locally based Gandakey Group. The relationship formed the basis for a franchisee network that is now spread across almost all of the key cities in Nepal.
In developing its franchisee network in Nepal, the Gandakey Group introduced a modern pre-cure retreading system by building around a dozen plants in Nepal, gradually
replacing the traditional hot system in the market. “The first retreading plant with Elgi opened in Pokhara in 1990,” said Rameshwar Pokharel, Managing Director, New Gandakey Tyre & Tread at Pokhara.
Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal after Kathmandu. The city on the banks of Phewa Lake is in central Nepal and is known as a gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular mountaineering trail in the Himalayas. Three out of the ten highest mountains in the world – Dhaulagiri,
50 Retreading Business