MRF to double radial tyre capacity

Mr. K.M. Mammen, Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd., and Mr. M.F. Farooqui, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Industries Department, signed on May 2 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of the Chief Minister, Dr. M. Karunanidhi, for the new MRF plant to be located at Perambulur, Trichy, and also for expansion of its existing plants in Tamil Nadu.

This will be MRF’s third plant to be set up in the State. The other factories are at Tiruvottiyur and Arakonam.

In terms of the MoU, the State Government has offered incentives to the company in line with the Government’s new industrial policy of 2007.

MRF will initially invest Rs. 900 crores for ramping its radial tyre capacity by 3,50,000 radial tyres with a plan to double the capacity to 7,00,000 tyres in the second phase. It is acquiring nearly 290 acres of land for its new Perambulur facility.

Besides the two plants in Tamil Nadu, MRF has manufacturing facilities in Puducherry, Kottayam, Goa and Medak. It is the No.1 tyre manufacturing company in India producing a large range of tyres.

MRF had a humble beginning manufacturing toy balloons in 1949, with the establishment of a factory in Tiruvottiyur. MRF started manufacture of tyres/tubes from 1961. Today it exports tyres to nearly 75 countries worldwide.

The Perambulur plant will employ cutting-edge technology with the latest equipments available for production of radial tyres. This facility has been planned to provide a major thrust to MRF’s production capacity, especially passenger and truck radials to keep pace with the rising demand in the automobile industry.