Dhaka Indian tyre giant Ceat is to open a plant in Bangladesh to cash in on booming automobile business, a report says.
"It [Ceat] has started the field survey and selection of land for the plant," the tyre maker's Bangladesh representative Shafqat Hussain told Daily Star.
The plant will make cross-ply tyres for trucks, light and small commercial vehicles and two-wheelers for the local market.
His comment came as Ceat last week announced its plans to invest 4.16 billion taka (Dh186.52 million) to set up a plant in Bangladesh.
Ceat makes a variety of tyres for vehicles including commercial trucks, personal cars, motorcycles, and three-wheelers.
Automobile businesses earlier said the existing tyre manufacturing industry appeared inadequate to meet the growing demand for automobiles.
"Tyre-making requires a lot of energy and we are suffering for not getting adequate gas [as fuel for the plant].
"I don't know how the government will provide Ceat the gas," said Luthful Bari, general manager of Meghna Rubber Industries that manufactures tyres.
Demand for tyres is rising fast as 10,000-12,000 buses and trucks are coming on the roads every year. Local manufacturers said demand for motorcycle tyres is booming — 25,000-30,000 a month. The price of tyres also quadrupled in the last decade as demand rose.
Around 70 per cent of imported tyres come from India, followed by China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand, industry insiders said.