The tyre industry has cautioned the government against the indiscriminate tyre imports, saying it will dent Prime Minister?s ?Make in India? call. In view of no let-up in import of dumped tyres in India, huge domestic capacities created in the recent past are staring at the prospects of underutilisation, Raghupati Singhania, Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), said in a communication to the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

New capacities, particularly in truck and bus radials, have been created by Indian tyre manufacturers at an outlay of over Rs 15,000 crore in the last couple of years. However, the industry is beset with lower capacity utilisation and low capital productivity in view of surging imports of undervalued and dumped tyres, he said. Large scale imports of tyres, particularly truck and bus tyres, have been taking place indiscriminately at prices which in some cases have been below the cost of raw materials. This is causing huge injury to the domestic tyre manufacturers, he said.