Apollo Tyres, one of the leading tyre manufacturers in India, announced that the company has confirmed Hungary as the location for setting-up greenfield facility in Eastern Europe. The company has received the necessary approval from its board of directors for the same.

Hungary was chosen after a consideration of various factors over some of the neighbouring Central Eastern European and Asian countries.

Apollo Tyres will invest Euro 475 million over the next 4 to 5 years to setup this facility in the new industrial zone near Gyongyoshalasz, Hungary.

Once comleted the plant will have a capacity to produce 5.5 million passenger car & light truck (PCLT) tyres and 675,000 heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) tyres per anuum. This facility will produce both, Apollo and Vredestein branded tyres and will cater to the entire European market, and will complement Apollo Tyres' existing facility in the Netherlands.

Commenting on the decision, Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director, Apollo Tyres said, ''This investment would  be our first one nto a Greenfield facility outside of India and would be a significant milestone in the company's international growth journey. Our aim is to create a benchmark manufacturing facility, which would further increase our competitive strength in the European market.''

Shares of the company gained Rs 2.35, or 1.17%, to trade at Rs 203.65. The total volume of shares traded was 194,866 at the BSE (10.26 a.m., Thursday).