Road development to boost tyre sector.

The Budget has laid down a road map for reviving infrastructure and manufacturing both of which are crucial for sustained growth of the auto and tyre sectors, say tyre industry representatives.

Raghupati Singhania, Vice-Chairman, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, said the emphasis on road development with commitment of significant funds towards the National Highways Authority of India fulfils an urgent need to spur infrastructure development.

The proposal for development of expressways, parallel to industrial corridors, will help revitalise the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment, where sales have been declining for two years.

However, the tyre industry was hopeful that in view of the thrust on enhancing manufacturing competitiveness, the prevailing inverted duty structure will be corrected.

That anomaly, which is continuing for the last several years, has not been addressed and is a matter of concern, he said.

HBL