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NEPAL
Bamdev Dastakoti, Chairman, Shankar Group of Companies
the Eastern Terai region.
The plant is supplied by PK Cold as part of its franchisee network and is installed with Indag equipment including a 4-tyre chamber. “We are also using Indag tread rubber sourced from PK Cold’s Kathmandu plant,” he said. The company retreads TBR tyre up to size 1000/20.
Sidhagadhi Tread also says it has plans to expand by setting-up a similar capacity plant deeper in the
Terai region. “We have plans to set-up a second plant at Manthali, about 70 km from Sindhuli. This is also a remote area with no other retreading plant,” he said. Manthali is a municipality in Ramechhap District in the Janakpur Zone of north-eastern Nepal.
Currently, the Sindhuli plant retreads in between 2,000 to 2,500 tyres yearly.
Shankar Tyre Supports Pre-cure Sector and Looks to Promote Uniform Retreading
Standards
One of the oldest Pokhara based tyre retreaders, Shankar Tyre Resoling Industry, is now focusing on pre-cure retreading. The three decade old plant used to offer retreading by both hot and cold processes. “We shut down the hot retread operation in 2016 as the traditional process is on the way out. Now our focus is exclusively on the precure system,” said Bamdev Dastakoti, Chairman, Shankar Group of Companies. The group has interests in tyre retreading, new tyre distribution, and oxygen gas production.
“The plant retreads 3,000 to 3,500 tyres in a year but volumes have come down as the Nepal government banned public vehicles older than 20 years early this year, to curb city pollution and manage public transportation system,” he explained. According to the Department of transportation, around 5,000 vehicles have crossed the 20-year mark in Nepal. Almost 2,500 of these are being driven on Kathmandu Valley roads, and phasing out these public vehicles is also expected to ease traffic congestion in the capital.
The move has phased out a good number of heavy trucks and replaced them with lighter, smaller vehicles moving largely on Chinese radials. “Around 250-300 heavy trucks moved from Pokhara to Kathmandu and that business has gone, which is also the reason for shutting down the hot operation,” he said.
Moreover, the share of low price imported tyres is also increasing, Indian brands hold a dominant 50 per cent share in the Nepal market, and they are good for retreading. Most of the retreading in Nepal survives as people still prefer Indian tyres. But now China tyres also hold around 25 per cent share, which has caused a shortage of suitable casings for retreading.
The company first forayed into the new tyre business about five years ago and deals in Birla Tyres, MRF, JK, Ceat and Goodyear. Interestingly, Bamdev Dastakoti also heads the regional association of retreaders, the Gandaki – Dhaulagiri Tyre Resoling Association. One of the major tasks of the five-year old association is to implement a
uniform rate of retreading. “We are now planning to take a delegation to various international shows in countries like India and Malaysia
and also organise factory visits to have a first look at the technological advances made by the retreading industry,” he said.