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TYREXPO INDIA
recently due to the devastating earthquake, which hit Kathmandu. Gandakey’s oldest retread plants Kantipur Poly Tread and New
K antipur Cold Retread Pvt Ltd were both located in the capital city near the epicentre of the earthquake. “The walls of both plants fell in and production was disrupted for about a month. We have reconstructed the walls and plants and repaired cracks and are back in operation,” said Pokhrel. The Group owned Kantipur Cold Retread is a 15 year old plant and the largest in Nepal with a monthly production of 450 tyres.
Jaffna Retreader Revives Plant in Sri Lanka
It looks like Jaffna is fast returning to normal and industrial activity is picking up in the once troubled province in the North of Sri Lanka as well as in neighbouring India. Sri Lankan expatriates residing in various parts of the globe are returning to their homeland and reviving business after the end of the civil war.
An example of this is Northern Industries Pvt Ltd, which has started operating again in Jaffna, the plant having been closed due to the civil war for a quite a long time. “Production is still low at 100 tyres per month but we have revived the business started by my father,” said
Shan Subenthiran, Director, Northern Industries Pvt Ltd. Shan immigrated to the UK during turmoil but his sister preferred to remain and revived her fathers’ passion.
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Peninsula of the same name. Prior to the Sri Lankan civil war, it was Sri Lanka's second most populated city after the commercial capital, Colombo. The 1980s insurgent uprising led to extensive damage, expulsion of part of the population and military occupation. Since the end of the civil
war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people have started to return to their homes and government and private sector reconstruction has begun.
Production remains low at Northern Industries as the retreading company has yet to start any real marketing initiative to improve production and sales. “Now, I have taken the responsibility of marketing, though I am based in the UK, I plan to travel to Jaffna more often,” said Shan. If the business picks up in the years to come, he would not be shy of returning to back to the homeland and joining the business full time.
Yagyeshwar Pokhrel, Director, Gandakey Group
Commenting on the Nepalese retreading market, Pokhral, who heads the retread association in Nepal, stated, “Around 15,000 tyres are retreaded in Nepal each month. The retreading market is picking up in Nepal now and with reconstruction having started in various parts of the country.” Nepal has more than 350 retreaders, although few of these operate in
the organised sector. The majority of retreaders are small, fly-by-night operators, running plants on very few tyres.
The Nepalese retreading industry is solely dependent on India for rubber, raw materials and equipment. “About 150 tonnes of tread rubber is imported from India each month from Indian tread makers like Treadsdirect, Tolins, Indag, MRF, Midas, Poddar, Vamshi and Eastern Tread,” he said.
To further expand in the tyre sector, Gandakey Group has recently entered into the new tyre business and is planning to further expand into different segments of the automobile business in the near future.