At Tyresoles, we focus on lowering our customers' tyre costs. We work with our customers to reduce the damage and scrap of these new tyres. The more tyres get retreaded, the lower the cost for the fleet, says Karun Sanghi, Managing Director, Tyresoles. Excerpts of the interview.

What is the impact of the prevailing economic slowdown on the off-the-road (OTR) aftermarket segment?
Tyresoles works with iron ore mines in Karnataka and Goa and cement factories all over India. We have seen a substantial slowdown with the mining bans.

Could you brief us on the facility set up for retreading of radials?
Tyresoles set up a new factory in Belgaum (Karnataka) for retreading OTR tyres about three years ago. We installed six segmented moulds specifically designed for radial tyres. We also expanded our repair facilities to cater to these large tyres. We have also been developing rubber formulations for various applications such as ports and limestone mines. We have an installed capacity of 500 OTR tyres per month. The additional investment would be about Rs 5 crore.

What is the share of retreaded radials in the aftermarket?
We find the use of radial tyres varies from project to project. Based on the operating conditions, some customer gets much better performance from radial tyres. But many still prefer bias ply tyres.

Brief us on the advantages of retreading the radials.
Radial tyres tend to be more expensive when compared with bias ply tyres. To get the best value from radial tyres, they must be retreaded. The new tyre casings are designed to be retreaded more than once. Many users do not realise that retreading radial tyres requires specialised equipment. If radial tyres are retreaded in bias ply moulds, the tyres get damaged. We have been working with our customers to help them lower their cost of operations by retreading bias ply and radial tyres.

What are the trends in your R&D for retreading of OTRs and radials?
We have set up a new tread rubber factory in Mangalore (Karnataka) and are developing new rubber formulations for OTR applications.

What major challenges does retreading industry face in India?
Retreading industry is very fragmented in India. Organised players pay VAT and service tax on retreading. The service tax department continues to demand service tax on sale of material putting undue pressure on the larger retreaders.

Compared to a normal tyre, what is the added life span a radial tyre provides, and once the same is retreaded, what will be the life span?
Radial tyres can give substantially higher mileage as compared to bias ply tyres. We find that radial tyres can give 50-100 per cent higher mileage as compared to bias ply tyres. Retreaded radial tyres also will give much higher mileage. We feel that the industry will consolidate as radicalisation increases.

Tell us about the value additions offered by Tyresoles.
At Tyresoles, we focus on lowering our customers tyre costs. We are not the lowest priced retreaders but our customers will have the lowest tyres cost. Most of the cost is incurred in purchasing new tyres. We work with our customers to reduce the damage and scrap of these new tyres. The more tyres get retreaded the lower the cost for the fleet.

How environment friendly is the retreading industry?
Retreading is recycling. Tyres that are not retreaded will end up in landfills damaging the environment. Each retreaded truck tyre save the nation 20 litre of crude oil. So last year we saved 3 million litre of crude for India. Tyresoles has also started another company Ecoflex. Here we produce safety and sports flooring using rubber waste generated from scrap tyres. So tyres that cannot be retreaded are converted to flooring.