Bridgestone India Pvt. Ltd. has announced the opening of its second plant in Chakan near Pune recently. The plant was jointly inaugurated by Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Chief Minister, who was the chief guest on the occasion, Mr. Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO and Representative Board Member, Bridgestone Corporation, and Mr. Kiyoshi Asako, Consul General of Japan in Mumbai.
The plant set up under an MoU signed between Bridgestone India Pvt. Ltd. and the Maharashtra Government in April 2010 at an estimated investment of Rs. 2,600 crores covers an area of approximately 187 acres of land. When all the phases of expansion are complete, the plant will have a capacity to manufacture around 10,000 passenger car radial tyres and 3,000 truck bus radial tyres per day that will cater to the growing needs of the Indian market. It will offer employment to approximately 1,800 people.
Talking to the media, Mr. Kazuhisa Nishigai observed that India is growing rapidly and it will surely continue growing further. The success in India is essential and for Bridgestone to be the undisputed No.1 tyre and rubber company in the world both in name and reality.
Bridgestone India established its first plant in India at Kheda in Madhya Pradesh. It started production in 1998, and within a short span of 14 years became one of the leading tyre companies in both the OEM and replacement markets with a 2,500-strong network across the nation.