Business

CEAT inflates radial tyre production to 600,000 units a year

Published

3 weeks ago

2021/07/13

CEAT Kelani Holdings has announced a production increase of 84,000 radial tyres per year for passenger cars and vans, in its second expansion in this segment within the past four months.

The expansion will see Sri Lanka’s top tyre brand take annual radial tyre production to 600,000 – an increase of 16 per cent over current production of 516,000 radials, and further ease pressure on supply attributed to government-imposed restrictions on the import of certain sizes to conserve foreign exchange.

The production increase comes with the addition of two more tyre presses and a tyre building machine at the CEAT Kelani manufacturing complex in Kelaniya, supplementing the two new tyre presses commissioned in March this year under Phase 1 of the expansion plan.

With monthly radial tyre production ramping up to 50,000 units in the most in-demand sizes, availability is expected to improve for tyres that fit many makes of cars and vans including Suzuki Alto, Maruti Suzuki Alto, Maruti Suzuki Omni, Tata Ace Ex2, Hyundai- Eon, Mitsubishi Minicab, Toyota HiAce, Nissan Vanette, Lanka Ashok Leyland Dost, Tata Winger, Nissan Urvan, Kia K2500, Suzuki- Super Carry, Maruti Suzuki, Super Carry, Piaggio Porter, Toyota Town Ace, Toyota Lite Ace, Suzuki Wagon R, Daihatsu Mira ES, Nissan Dayz, Nissan Note, Honda Freed and Toyota Avanza.

Besides the volume increases they provide, the new presses installed under the expansion project are hydraulic, significantly improving the uniformity, ride and handling parameters and the overall aesthetics of the radial tyres they produce.

Commenting on this latest expansion, CEAT Kelani Managing Director Mr Ravi Dadlani said: “The CEAT brand supplied nearly half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements for several years before the pandemic. The disruption of transport logistics worldwide due to the pandemic combined with the temporary import restrictions on certain categories and sizes of tyres, required us to accelerate production to help meet the domestic shortfall. As a result, we have increased radial tyre production by as much as 32 per cent since March this year, which could be considered an admirable response to the situation.”

CEAT Kelani Holdings increased capacity utilisation across all its manufacturing plants last year, to supply the additional domestic requirements of truck, bus, three-wheeler, car, and van tyres in the absence of imports. In August last year, the Company increased production to supply 100 per cent of the passenger bus and goods transport sectors’ tyre needs through domestic production, potentially saving Sri Lanka Rs 11 billion a year in foreign exchange.

CEAT Kelani also achieved an 85 per cent increase in the production of tyres for the ‘two-wheeler’ segment over just three months between June and September 2020 and pushed production of tyres for motorcycles and scooters from 27,000 units a month in June 2020 to 41,000 per month in July and August and 50,000 per month from September 2020 onwards. This was expected to result in a further saving of Rs 350 million a year for the country.

The CEAT brand has been ranked the most valuable consumer brand in the country’s ‘Motor’ segment in the 2021 Brand Finance rankings and as one of the top five brands in Sri Lanka overall in terms of brand strength score.

Sri Lanka’s largest pneumatic tyre manufacturer, CEAT Kelani Holdings is considered one of the most successful India – Sri Lanka joint ventures in the manufacturing sector. The joint venture’s cumulative investment in Sri Lanka to date totals Rs 8 billion and its manufacturing operations encompass tyres in the radial (passenger cars, vans and SUVs), commercial (Bias-ply and radial), motorcycle, three-wheeler and agricultural vehicle segments.

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Business

Sri Lanka Tourism introduces e-learning platform for all SLTDA registered tourist guides.

Published

20 hours ago

2021/07/30

Dilshan Nadeera

As an initiative to uplift the reviving tourism industry in the country, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in collaboration with Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management (SLITHM) have introduced the continuous professional development (CPD) e-learning platform to all registered guides to enhance their knowledge and skills.

The launch of the continuous professional development (CPD) e-learning platform took place this week under the patronage of Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga, Secretary of the Ministry S. Hettiarachchi and Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando.

“Tourist guides play an important role in our tourism sector as they spend a lot of time with visitors from arrival to departure. It is important that our guides stay updated on their professional/technical knowledge and I hope this e-learning platform by Sri Lanka Tourism will help them enhance their knowledge and skills” Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando shared while the Minister congratulated all the officials who were involved in bringing this initiative to reality.

Knowledge improvement, obtaining expertise knowledge from veterans, develop active participation with guests, improve the link between Tourism institutions & guides are some key objectives of this e-learning platform.

If you are a registered guide with SLTDA, you can now sign up on https://sltda.gov.lk/e-learning/login and avail of the online courses.

A certificate of completion will be given at the end of the course from SLTDA and SLITHM.

Business

Impact of Climate Change on marine and fresh water resources and combating water pollution

Published

20 hours ago

2021/07/30

Dilshan Nadeera

Trilateral virtual dialogue among Pathfinder Foundation, Russian International Affairs Council and Asian Confluence

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) has initiated a trilateral dialogue involving Sri Lanka, India and the Russian Federation to discuss issues of contemporary relevance. The first trilateral dialogue will be held to day 4:30 PM SLST on the “Impact of Climate Change on Marine and Fresh Water Resources and Combating Water Pollution: Best Practices from Russia, Sri Lanka and India”.

For this dialogue, Pathfinder Foundation will be partnering with Russian International Affairs Council and Asian Confluence.

The distinguished panellists for the webinar are, Ambassador GlebIvashentsov, Vice President, Russian International Affairs Council, Ambassador (Retd.) Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman Pathfinder Foundation, Ambassador. IFS(Retd.) Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, Member Governing Council, The Asian Confluence and Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House,Dr. Anastasia Likhacheva, Director, Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher Schoolof Economics, Dr. B. V. R. Punyawardena, Chairman, National Steering Committee on Climate Change Adaptation, Governmentof Sri Lanka, Dr. Fraddry D’Souza, Area ConvenerandFellow, The Coastal Ecology & Marine Resources Centre, TERI Goa,India , Dr. Konstantin Zgurovsky, Senior Advisor, Marine Programme, WWF Russia, Mr. Sarath Premalal, Retired Director General of Meteorology of Sri Lanka and Prof. Vinay Kumar Dadhwal, Director, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Professor Indira Gandhi Chair, National Institute of Advanced Studies, India

Those who are interested in participating may kindly register at the following link; https://bit.ly/3AZbYAN Program details are available at https://bit.ly/3zdUkY3 . The event will also be live streamed on the PF Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pathfinderfoundation/

Business

Doc990 and MyDoctor partner SLVA to extend accessible veterinary services islandwide

Published

20 hours ago

2021/07/30

Dilshan Nadeera

Sri Lanka’s premier digital health solutions service providers, Doc990 and MyDoctor are now enabling customers to access online veterinary services island-wide in partnership with the Sri Lanka Veterinary Association.

The national professional body serving and representing the interests of the veterinary profession in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Veterinary Association (SLVA), is dedicated to providing continued excellence within the profession of animal medicine and the provision of outstanding care for all animals while also actively creating public awareness of the contribution of veterinarians island-wide.

This collaborative effort with Doc990 and MyDoctor will bring pet owners, owners of farm animals and good Samaritans the ability to access remote video consultations with leading, specialist veterinarians of their choosing, without the hassle of physically entering hospital waiting rooms, transporting animals etc. This timely, contactless service will not only be convenient but also a relief to pet owners and caretakers in the backdrop of travel restrictions as a result of the ongoing global pandemic.

Customers can engage in video consultations with their chosen vet by downloading the Doc990 mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store. Through its widening network of hospitals and medical services, Doc990 strives to make health care accessible and convenient for all Sri Lankans.