The newly launched OTR tyre range 27.00R49 can offer lowest total cost of ownership for mining operators.
Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, BKT.

  B alkrishna Industries (BKT), a global brand of Indian origin, returned to this year’s EXCON to launch a series of giant OTR tyres for mining applications. The company launched 27.00R49, specially designed OTR for trucks in mining service and quarry operations.

“The newly launched OTR tyre range 27.00R49 can offer lowest total cost of ownership for mining operators,” Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, BKT claims.
The 27.00R49 will be manufactured at the company’s newly opened plant in Bhuj, Gujarat.   

BKT’s success storyIn early 1990s when the other tyre companies in India were busy producing highway tyres for mass use mostly, BKT foresaw a unique opportunity in international business and started production in the off highway segment. BKT’s products, owing to their state-of-the-art make and unmatched performance, found immediate recognition in world markets and there began an unending story of BKT’s triumph and innovation.

Today BKT has emerged as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of off-highway tyres with over 92 per cent exported to more than 130 countries.

Enhanced manufacturing capacity
BKT has four state-of-the-art manufacturing units located at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Bhiwadi and Chopanki in Rajasthan and Bhuj in Gujarat. The greenfield plant in Bhuj is built with an investment of around $ 450 million over 300 acres of land, just a few kilometres away from the Mundra port offering logistical advantages in transport of raw materials. “Today we have the manufacturing capacity of about 160,000 tonnes per annum. With Bhuj facility coming on stream we will be able to bring that capacity up to 280,000 tonnes per annum — nearly doubling the existing capacities,” Rajiv informed. He further said that the Bhuj facility will have full production by 2017.

BKT also has an in-house mould design and production unit at Dombivali near Mumbai which enables the company in achieving production flexibility and frequent change-over in the production cycle within a short time, resulting in a faster ‘concept-to-market’ product rollout.

Product range
With the help of persistent and intensive market research coupled with ever expanding production as well as R&D capabilities, today BKT has made its mark in the specialty segments like agricultural, construction, industrial, earthmover, port, ATV (all-terrain vehicle) and turf care applications in both cross ply and radial construction. BKT claims to be the first tyre company in India to produce the all-steel radial OTR tyres thus joining an elite class of all-steel OTR manufacturers in the world.

BKT has products from 5-inch rim diameter to 54-inch rim diameter and has products available for the traditional vehicles like dumpers, graders, trailers, forklifts, and implements to the technologically advanced machines like high horsepower tractors, combines, harvesters, GPS-controlled vehicles, articulated dump trucks, high-speed cranes, sophisticated port vehicles and container handlers.  BKT maintains a huge 2,300 different stock keeping units (SKU) for various kinds of applications.

With the future of off-highway tyre segment being radial, BKT’s new facility at Bhuj will have the emphasis on radials. This facility will also produce ultra large and giant OTR tyres up to 51-inch rim diameter. The tyres up to 35-inch rim diameter in the radial OTR segment are already available and apart from this, in the agriculture sector BKT has radials up to 54-inch.

BKT has also recently launched an ultra advanced range of tyres especially for high-speed cranes. The tyre 445/95R25 enables heavy high-speed cranes to travel at an incredible speed of 80 kms per hour.