Arvind Poddar and Family

Balkrishna Industries left the passenger tyre market and focused entirely on off-highway specialty tyres. It now exports to 160 countries.

Balkrishna Industries makes off-highway tyres, the large specialised tyres used in agricultural machinery, construction equipment, mining vehicles and port handling equipment, rather than the passenger car or truck tyres that most Indian tyre companies produce. The Poddar family's decision in the 1990s to exit the commodity passenger tyre market and focus entirely on off-highway specialty tyres proved to be a structurally important choice. The off-highway segment has fewer serious global competitors, requires significantly higher technical capabilities, and is dominated by European and American brands against which a well-invested Indian manufacturer could compete on value rather than brand recognition alone.

Balkrishna now exports to over 160 countries and supplies major agricultural equipment manufacturers globally. The company's Indian manufacturing base gives it a cost advantage relative to European producers that offsets the brand disadvantage of being newer to the market. Arvind Poddar's sons Rajiv, Gaurav and Avnish are leading the Vision 2030 expansion toward INR 23,000 crore in revenues.