Indian tyre Industry Concern Over Surging Imports

Indiscriminate import of tyres to dent Make in India campaign, said stakeholders in the tyre industry. “New capacities, particularly in truck and bus radials (TBR) have been created by Indian tyre manufacturers at an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore in the last couple of years. However the industry is beset with lower capacity utilisation and low capital productivity due to surging imports of undervalued and dumped tyres. The imports are running contrary to the concept of the Prime Minister’s call of Make in India”, said Raghupati Singhania, Chairman, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) in a communication to the Commerce Ministry. Imported tyres have come to account for an estimated 20% of the total domestic market. “The Chinese government continues to provide multiple, direct and indirect, subsidies to push exports. The export prices from China are lower than that of such tyres in Chinese domestic market and also prices of similar exports originating from Thailand, South Korea. This clearly indicates dumping of tyres into Indian markets.”  More than 60% of tyre import is taking place from China at an average unit value of $106 which is lower than raw material price, ATMA said.