GRI broke ground and laid the foundation stone for the second phase of a US$ 100 million tyre plant project with a new manufacturing facility in Badalgama, to expand its specialty tire production capabilities to meet growing global demand for its products. This new factory is the next phase of GRI’s rapid expansion currently underway, including the new mixing facility and will total the overall investment to $100 million. In January 2018 GRI inaugurated a world-class specialty tire manufacturing facility with an investment of more than $40 million. The new factory is an expansion of this facility and is expected to be completed by December 2021.
Managing Director of GRI, Prabhash Subasinghe said, “GRI’s expansion and increase in our production capacity, in such a short time frame, is a result of the overwhelming demand for ourGRI branded products in recent years. It has been rewarding to see how our products have been so well received in an extremely competitive market and lauded for its superlative quality, service and innovation – we are well-positioned to carve a niche for Sri Lankan specialty tires in the world market.”
“The new manufacturing facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and is set to quadruple GRI’s current production capacity bringing it to 750,000 tyres per year and a total capacity of 100 tons per day. The new factory will focus on agriculture tyres with a large share dedicated for advanced radial agriculture tyres,” said Dr Mahesha Ranasoma, CEO of GRI, noting the significance of the new facility.
GRI is the only manufacturer in Sri Lanka with radial agriculture manufacturing capability.
“We will also be increasing employment by 100% and build the GRI teamto 500 factory employees through this expansion; covering production, engineering, quality assurance, advanced technology, research and development.”
“The new facility will add 11,600 square meters of production area that will take the main tyre plant to 22,400 sq. mt.(240,000 sq. ft.) which is equivalent to the size of 3 football fields. A key feature in the new production plant is that it will equip GRI with the capability to manufacture larger sized agricultural tires.”
The new facility will expand GRI’s solar panel initiative spanning the entire roof and generate 2.5 Mega Watts of solar power. The factory will continue to use biomass boilers instead of furnace oil boilers while production at the facility will continue with an environmentally friendly ‘dry’ process, with no emission of gases or liquid disposal and ensuring low material wastage.
GRI was founded in 2002 and works towards its vision of taking high-grade Sri Lankan specialty tyres to the world.
