Prashant Jagetiya, Director – Strategic Planning, Bridgestone India, in an interaction with Thiruamuthan, Assistant Editor at Industry Outlook, discusses how India’s tyre industry is evolving amid rapid EV adoption and tightening sustainability norms. He also highlights the shift toward low-rolling-resistance tyres, circular manufacturing practices, and smart technologies as central pillars of future mobility in India. With 28 years of experience, Prashant is a senior corporate strategy professional specializing in tyre manufacturing, digital transformation, operations excellence, supply chain optimization, and cross-border leadership.
With India intensifying its shift toward fuel-efficient, low-rolling-resistance tyres, how is this transition redefining OEM partnerships amid EV growth and emerging sustainability mandates?
Fuel efficiency has always been a critical requirement for OEMs in India—even before EVs and sustainability became mainstream. Today, with CAFE norms, stringent sustainability mandates, and the rapid growth of EVs, this need has become even more pressing. However, in the Indian context, achieving Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) must be balanced with durability and long tyre life, given diverse road conditions and high ambient temperatures. This balance demands deep technical collaboration between tyre manufacturers and OEMs from the earliest stages of vehicle development. The key collaboration priorities for achieving low-rolling-resistance tyres in India:
Also Read: How Battery-as-a-Service Is Reshaping India’s EV Economics
As tyre makers expand bio-based polymer and recycled-rubber integration, what core production constraints are slowing wider adoption across India’s fast-growing commercial mobility segment?
While sustainability is a growing priority, the wider adoption of eco-friendly materials in tyre manufacturing faces several constraints:
Limited Availability of High-Quality Raw Materials: India’s current natural rubber plantations are not yet sufficient to fully meet domestic demand, and alternative bio‑based polymer sources such as guayule and dandelion are still in the early stages of commercialization.
Recycling infrastructure is currently at an early stage, with only a few facilities available for processes such as devulcanization.
Processing Challenges: Integrating recycled or bio-based materials without compromising performance, durability, and safety remains a complex technical challenge.
Cost Competitiveness: OEMs and Indian consumers place strong emphasis on value, which creates challenges in aligning the higher costs of sustainable materials with market expectations.
Achieving low-rolling-resistance tyres in India requires balancing fuel efficiency, tyre life, and safety, which makes early collaboration between OEMs and manufacturers critical for success.
With BEE’s star-labelling framework gaining traction, how are procurement teams in logistics evaluating measurable efficiency benefits from next-generation sustainable tyre technologies?
Under the BEE Star Labelling framework, tyres will be rated based on key parameters such as Low Rolling Resistance (LRR). This rating is significant because:
Lower LRR drives Better Fuel Efficiency: Reduced rolling resistance directly improves fuel economy, translating into lower cost per kilometer and reduced COâ‚‚ emissions.
Enhanced Logistics Efficiency: For logistics operators, LRR-rated tyres enable longer driving ranges for EV fleets, supporting both long-haul transport and last-mile delivery, thereby accelerating EV adoption.
Sustainability & Brand Advantage: Companies can leverage these ratings to demonstrate compliance with sustainability mandates, strengthen their ESG credentials, and promote their commitment to green mobility.
As circular-economy targets tighten, what critical infrastructure gaps are limiting effective tyre retreading in India’s high-utilization trucking and long-haul sectors?
Tyre retreading in India remains largely unorganized, with most units operating as small-scale, fragmented businesses. This leads to inconsistent performance and safety concerns, compounded by the absence of standardized quality norms for re-treaded tyres. As a result, many fleet operators perceive re-treaded tyres as unsafe and unreliable, limiting their adoption for long-haul applications.
Key Focus Areas for Growth:
Quality & Safety Enhancement: Development of uniform standards and harmonizing retreading processes across operators certification for re‑treaded tyres can strengthen industry confidence.
Economic Potential: Strengthening reverse logistics systems will support efficient collection of worn casings and expanding the supply of high‑quality casings suitable for retreading can boost overall viability.
With regulators assessing microplastic-emission risks, how are Indian tyre companies preparing for stricter abrasion-resistance norms impacting product design and testing cycles?
Tyre Wear Particles (TWPs), which contribute to microplastic emissions, remain an area requiring significant clarity and research in India. The foremost priority is to establish standardized methods for testing and measuring these emissions, as no uniform framework currently exists.
The Indian tyre industry is actively monitoring evolving regulations and mitigation strategies in other countries, while progress is underway at academic and regulatory levels domestically. However, microplastic mitigation has not yet been integrated into ESG strategies by most tyre companies in India.
Also Read: Crafting Enterprise Eco-Strategies For Long-Term Growth
As India charts its long-term green-mobility roadmap, how do you foresee smart, sensor-enabled sustainable tires supporting quantifiable lifecycle-emission reductions ahead?
Smart tyre technologies—such as embedded sensors, telematics, and integrated chips—are transforming mobility for both consumer and commercial segments in India. These innovations enable real-time monitoring of critical tyre parameters like temperature, pressure, and load conditions, which:
Improve Efficiency and Tyre Life: Optimized tyre performance reduces rolling resistance and wear, supporting green mobility by lowering COâ‚‚ emissions during usage.
Extend Resource Utilization: Longer tyre life means fewer replacements, reducing raw material consumption and overall environmental impact.
Enable Data-Driven Innovation: Data collected throughout the tyre lifecycle can feed into R&D for material and design improvements, accelerating future sustainability and performance advancements.
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