Apollo Tyres puts up new Middle East operations hub in Dubai

After its entry into Sri Lanka last month, India's largest tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres Ltd has announced setting up a Middle East regional base in Dubai.

Ther $2-billion company had said last montth that it sees possibility of a three-fold increase in business volume in the next three years from the region.
 
Apollo already has a distribution network in the Middle East, spanning 14 countries.

The company's decision to start the Dubai hub is attributed to Dubai's strategic location, similar tyre usage to India's and its $1.5-billion tyre market positions it as a high potential regional hub.

Apollo's Dubai JAFZA free economic zone office is its first and largest office outside its operations in India, southern Africa and the Netherlands. This office will be the Tyres' base in Dubai, and the reporting base for employees in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the company said.

Dubai accounts for around 30 per cent of Apollo Tyre's export revenues and Dubai itself is the largest tyre distribution hub in the region providing a booming domestic market with 1 car to every 1.8 people.

The company is currently in its second phase of global expansion and the Middle East has always been a natural extension of the company's markets in India, said Satish Sharma, Apollo Tyres' chief of Indian operations