GRI Tyre opened their world class specialty tyre manufacturing facility at Badalgama yesterday with an investment in the excess of US$40 million.
This is to produce radial agriculture tyres which is a first for Sri Lanka.
It is equipped with state of the art technology and some of the machines are being commissioned in Sri Lanka for the first time. This factory is also completely self-sufficient in energy as it is equipped with 1.2 megawatt solar panels, biomass boilers and fully recyclable waste and water management systems.
“This plant is a testament to the pioneering spirit and values embodied by all of us at GRI,” said GRI, Managing Director, Prabhash Subasinghe. As GRI open the doors for specialty tyre manufacturing in Sri Lanka, it will also add new items to the export basket of Sri Lanka.
This new factory will comprise of approximately 70% of Agri tyre products and the remaining output will consist of pneumatic construction tyres, forklift tyres and OTR tyres. This plant will produce the full spectrum of tyres used in off road applications.
“Over the past 16 years we gained entry to the world market, established new customers, and grew our business to over 50 countries. I introduced Agri Tyres as I realized that solid tyres were the largest component driving export earnings,” he said.
GRI tyres are now used by original equipment manufacturers and replacement forklifts all over the world. GRI is also the largest producer of solid excavator tyres.
“Looking to the future, we are now well into establishing an innovation lab that will harness many of these technologies to drive our business forward. In 10 years, 40% of the fortune 500 companies will not exist and our goal is to make sure that GRI continues well into the next millennia by impacting the lives of a billion people around the world. Our vision is to be a leading industrial tire producer in the world.”
Managing Director, Commercial Bank, Jegan Durairatnam, was the Chief Guest at the opening.