Prasanta Ganguly, Head – OTR Marketing (Domestic Sales), Balkrishna Industries Ltd. In an Interview with B2B Purchase.

What is your take on the ongoing d e v e l o p m e n t s happening in the construction and mining sectors? 

Construction and mining are two different sectors that are driving the demand for OTR tires. The government is looking at infrastructure development as a prime area for investment for the next few years. We are expecting an inflow of more funds for the infrastructure in the coming five years. The seaports need to be well connected with the production bases across the country. Hence the construction of roads and freight corridors, and other infrastructures are going to be our prime focus. Once we have feasible mobility connecting the ports, airports, and smart cities, we can channel everything in the next three years of time. So, mobility becomes a primary requirement to kick-start the economy.

We are expecting a booming increase in the construction sector by the end of this year. And BKT is ready for it; we have four factories for industrial construction and a production base. We have been constantly upgrading our factories and manufacturing facilities to offer best-in-class products to our customers. This gives the customer the best of the product and ensures high customer satisfaction. 

How do you evaluate the performance of the mining sector, among others?
In India, coal is the key aspect of the mining sector. We do have other metal mines. Hindustan Zinc is the world’s largest zinc company. Coal India has the largest mining fleet in the world. But the question here is, is our industry ready to meet their requirements?

Today, Coal India is adding giant and supergiant dump trucks to enhance production in future years and hence they will require giant all-steel radial tires to meet their operational requirement. BKT is all set to meet such critical requirements of the customers.

In the Indian OTR segment, radialisation is still at a nascent stage, whereas, in the automobile industry, car tires are 100 percent radialised; truck tires are also swiftly catching up. However, in case of the earthmover and industrial construction tires, are yet to be radialised. So, the radialisation process must occur as that is the future technology.

Speaking about the growth, I believe the mining sector is driving huge demand. Coal India is growing fast, and with the entry of private miners, we see speedy growth in the coming years. For other metal mining, Hindustan Zinc is expanding further; the demand for iron ore has shot up globally. The changing demand trends are leading to a constant increase in metal prices. 

What differences do you see? What are some of the areas where we can possibly pull apart shorts?
While marketing ultra-large and extra large all-steel radial earthmover tires, it requires a strong service back-up and tire management at the field level. Such service support can only bring an optimal level of performance to such giant tires.

We are already supplied 400R57 all-steel radial tires to Coal India, along with on-field service support. 

Moving forward, what are your future plans?
We would like to announce our plans at the right time presently. For this year, BKT has already rolled out its first radial agricultural tire at its new expanded Bhuj, plant. We have started production at our brand-new, cutting-edge plant (from both a structural and mechanical point of view) in Waluj. Our Carbon black plant in Bhuj will enter phase 2. 

In fact, BKT is one of the few companies with in-house – tire molds production facilities, and manufacturer of carbon black pigments, which provide us with major autonomy and ensure enhanced quality control throughout the entire supply chain.

On the product front, every year, BKT adds 80 to 90 new SKUs to meet global demand thanks to extensive R&D, product design, and new product development activities. 

While going global, each country has varied regulatory standards for quality and performance. How is BKT managing these varied expectations?
Quality is of utmost importance to any customer globally. A customer buys tires that perform efficiently and has value for money.

Each mine has operation parameters and such tire requirement changes. Similarly, in an industrial construction site, the tire requirement changes at different stages, we at BKT have been developing tires to meet the specific requirement of our customers across the globe.

Regulatory norms applicable for manufacturing are country-specific and BKT being a global tire company supplying to over 160 countries across the globe, we implement all regulatory parameters that have been defined by each country.  

How do you view BKT’s performance and strength during the pandemic? 

The pandemic has slowed down industrial production in many segments, but BKT maintained its production and marketing even during the pandemic and throughout the lockdown. We capitalised on this time and investment into R&D. In fact, during this period, we developed and rolled out our largest all-steel radial earthmover tire.

We prioritised the safety and welfare of our employees, during this period, as they are our biggest strengths.

What are your views on IME 2022, as it was the first offline event since 2019? 

IME is the first offline exhibition since Post – Covid and the right platform to showcase the latest developments and offers of the mining industry. BKT has been active in all mining related events and exhibitions for years now. We expected pretty good footfall during the event. We were delighted for the opportunity to meet our customers from the mining segment. Furthermore, we showcased our latest developments during the IME 2022.