tyres: DPIIT steps led to investment commitments of over Rs 1100 cr from global tyre makers

Leading global tyre makers such as Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear have committed investments worth over Rs 1,100 crore in India after the DPIIT temporarily allowed them to import certain tyres to the country, an official said. The official said that the import restrictions on ‘New Pneumatic Tyres’ were relaxed for certain global players that were interested in importing specific tyres from their factories abroad into India. The imports were temporarily permitted by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) subject to the concerned company’s commitment to invest and set up or expand its manufacturing facilities in the country for the concerned products, in a time-bound manner.

“This initiative has witnessed investment commitments worth more than Rs 1,100 crore from leading global players like Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear for the development/expansion of their tyre manufacturing capacity in India,” the official said.

Additional applications received from other global players are currently being evaluated for consideration under this initiative.

The DPIIT has also asked other ministries to take steps to promote domestic manufacturing of sectors falling under their purview as has been done in the case of toys and tyres, the official said.

The department has stated that existing policy instruments can be considered by the line ministries/departments for the development of domestic manufacturing capacity in respect of products/sectors under their purview.

The steps could include changes in custom duty rate and non-tariff measures such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs), and incentives for the development of the manufacturing ecosystem.

Taking cues from the successful initiatives taken by the DPIIT for toys and tyres sectors in the development of domestic manufacturing capacity, the “departments can examine the feasibility of leveraging similar measures to encourage domestic manufacturing in respect of the product categories falling under your department’s purview”.

The DPIIT has seen significant success through measures such as the implementation of both tariff and non-tariff measures in the Indian toy industry.

It has undertaken focused initiatives on mission mode including increasing basic customs duty on toys from 20 per cent to 70 per cent, implementation of the QCO, National Action Plan for Toys (NAPT), and cluster development.

This has resulted in the rise of India’s exports of toys by 227 per cent and a decline in imports by 37 per cent in the last ten years.

Further, the quality of toys in the market has also improved significantly, with more than 84 per cent of toys conforming to the quality standards in 2023, as against 33 per cent in 2019.

“These comprehensive efforts have led to India supplying toys to global players like Walmart, Hasbro, Spinmaster, Hamleys,” the official added.