ACE January 2020

OTR I I Industry Speaks
Ashok P Chhajer,
OE Sales, BKT Tyres
It is necessary to arrest
the stagnation and create
opportunities
Incepted in 1987 and Headquartered in Mumbai, Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT) is a
leading manufacturer in the Off-Highway tire market. Ashok P Chhajer, OE Sales, BKT Tyres,
talks about BKT’s expansion plans in India and his belief that a turnaroundin the health of
the construction sector is eminent.
Could you talk about your expansion plans?
Our top management is overlooking the
implementation of the expansion plan. It will
include end-to-end automation;right from
raw material handling to production of the
end product. Nevertheless it is expensive and
ambitious, but we have been known to do
things differently. The existing Aurangabad
plant will be relocated to a new location to
bring this expansion plan into action.
So, you are saying the relocation has begun.
Have you finalised everything?
Yes everything is done and the work is on, in
full swing. The new site is based in Aurangabad
itself.Butthe location is different; the
location is bigger and can help in achieving
the desired capacity augmentation.
Something like the facility you have in
Bhuj?
No. Bhuj is a massive property about 350
acres and this one is relatively smaller. From
the existing facility which is spread across 15
to 20 acres, we are going for a facility which
will be spread across 30 acres to 35 acres.
So, this capacity expansion that you’re
doing, is it keeping in mind the Indian
market or the international market?
BKT caters to a global market. And now we
have started addressing the needs of the
Indian market too. It is needless to say
that BKT is a global brand. So, whatever
we do, we keep in mind the needs and
requirements of our global product market.
BKT is a global player and much of its
market is overseas. At the same time
the market share of BKT in the domestic
market has increased from 8 per cent to 15
per cent. Yes India as a market fits into our
global aspirations. We are growing and will
continue to grow.
With your global expertise in place what
are your key focus areas?
Initially our sole focus was on the domestic
agricultural market. In the last four years we
have become even more aggressive about
it. This has a lot to do with the response
to our COMMANDER range of tires.At the
same time we remain bullish about product
offerings in the construction and mining
sector which includes the OTR tire range.
As one of the key industry player, do you
have any feedback for the government?
Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport &
Highways of India, in his inauguratory Excon
speech covered all the areas.He detailed
out the government’s plans with regards
to construction and infrastructure. This has
added a lot of faith in the minds of the
participants at Excon. These projects have a
lot of business potential and we all keen to
capitalize.
So, you are very happy with the way things
are going currently?
I agree that the construction sector is not
in the best of health. Having said that it is
necessary to arrest the stagnation and create
opportunities. After listening to MrGadkari,
I believe the government remains optimistic
and is keen to ensure the sector flourishes.
So, I am banking on the promises which have
been made and hopefully everything will be
in place.
ACE UPDATE January
ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
2020
41