BUDAPEST: Construction works have began on Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres’s HUF 146 billion new plants at the village of Gyöngyöshalász, near Gyöngyös in northern Hungary. The new plant is the Indian company’s first greenfield investment in Europe. The investment, expected to create 975 new jobs, was announced in September last year by company and government officials.
“Apollo Tyres is investing in a country where economic growth is among the highest in Europe and which has set cutting unemployment to 3% as an objective,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his address at the ceremony. “The world around us is going to change completely in four to five years’ time. Any nation that wants to remain competitive must become part of the modern technologies,” he said.
The plant is expected to turn out tyres for 16,000 cars and 3,000 light commercial vehicles per day for the European market, including Russia and Turkey.
Onkar S. Kanwar, head of Apollo Tyres, referred to India as the fourth largest and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, as well as an emerging IT power. He also noted that Indian investments in Hungary ensure employment for over 8,000 local people.
