Michelin considering production of passenger vehicle tyres in India

French tyre major Michelin is considering production of passenger vehicle tyres locally in India, the group's Chief Executive Officer Florent Menegaux told PTI. Local manufacturing will help the tyre major scale up operations in the country, which remain critically subdued with the government introducing import restrictions in 2020. The tyre maker has presence in 175 countries with 67 plants.

It currently sells only premium bigger size tyres in limited quantity especially for performance oriented models in India. In 2020, the government imposed curbs on imports of certain new pneumatic tyres used in motor cars, busses, lorries and motorcycles in a move to promote domestic manufacturing. Thus, tyre companies can now import only a small number of tyres into the country under a limited import licence, which was not the case before 2020.

Menegaux noted that India is a great developing market and said that the company is eager to invest in the local production of passenger vehicle tyres in India and the only thing which needs to be worked out is the timing for the same. "Now we are reaching the moment where it will make sense to invest in the passenger car capacity (in India)," Menegaux noted.

The company has presence across the globe and it needs to carefully evaluate investment options across the regions. "We invest in many places around the world so the question is when is the right time for India. It is not a question whether we should invest in India, the question is when," Menegaux said. He added that the timeframe is under the process right now.

Michelin currently has presence in the truck and bus radial tyres in India. It has a production facility in Chennai with an installed capacity of over 30,000 tonnes per annum.