Apollo Tyres has decided to invest a majority of its Rs.1700 crore planned budget in the Chennai facility. At the Chennai facility, the company plans to increase the capacity of truck and bus radials to 12000 units. According to Gaurav Kumar, Chief Financial Officer of Apollo Tyres, the company expects the Chennai plant to start aligning with the production plans by the beginning of the last quarter of 2016. “Apollo Tyres over the year 2015-16 has spent Rs.400 crore to enhance the capacity of the Chennai facility,” averred Kumar. “The company’s capacity utilisation in India has risen to 85 per cent already,” he added. Sources at Apollo Tyres indicate the investment to be funded by a combination of internal accruals and borrowing. The gross debt in the meanwhile claim sources have gone up from Rs.670 crore to Rs.970 crore as a result of the loans taken for expansion of the plant.