Onkar Singh Kanwar’s early strategy combined two goals: make Apollo Tyres less vulnerable to disruption at home, and seek international partners and technology to compete in a changing tyre industry. A 2017 excerpt from Tim Bouquet’s biography describes how Kanwar pursued a second Indian factory despite licensing constraints and explored collaboration abroad. Apollo’s later acquisitions and overseas manufacturing extended that outward-looking approach into a global business.
Apollo’s foundations came before the expansion
Apollo Tyres began in 1972 and commissioned its first plant at Perambra, Kerala, in 1975, according to the company’s official history. The company was still building its domestic manufacturing base when Kanwar began looking beyond a single factory and beyond India for ways to strengthen the business.
That distinction matters: Apollo’s later international presence was not the starting point. The early problem was how to secure production continuity in India while gaining access to technology and collaboration that could help the company compete internationally.
Why Kanwar wanted another factory
A Scroll.in feature published on March 6, 2017, excerpted from Tim Bouquet’s biography The Man Behind the Wheel: How Onkar S Kanwar Created a Global Giant, recounts that labor disruptions at Perambra prompted Kanwar to seek a second manufacturing base. As the excerpt quotes him: “Apollo could not be held to ransom by unions.” The remark captures the strategic concern described in the account: dependence on one plant could leave production exposed to labor conflict.
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The second factory was also a response to India’s industrial licensing system. The biography excerpt says Kanwar pursued a dormant Gujarat licence and describes negotiations with officials over outstanding tax. In Kanwar’s reported recollection, the department sought Rs 50 million, and he agreed to pay it; he described Rs 40 million as the outstanding tax connected with the licence episode. These are figures and details reported in the biographical account, not independently verified government records. The excerpt also quotes him saying: “All I want is the licence, nothing else. I want no government money. I just want to build a factory.”
Retrospective coverage dates Apollo’s Limda plant in Gujarat to 1991. The reported licensing negotiations show the practical obstacle the company faced; the Limda milestone shows that Apollo went on to establish a second production base in India.
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Why he looked for international collaboration
The biography excerpt places Kanwar’s ambitions against a tyre industry being reshaped by global competition and technology. It describes Michelin as a technological benchmark in his eyes. The account also says that after Continental acquired General Tire in 1987, Kanwar approached Cooper Tire as a possible alternative collaborator. The feature attributes this line to him: “I want to buy your collaboration because I am not happy with General.”
This was an approach, not evidence of a completed agreement. The episode is reported in the biography excerpt; the available company milestones do not independently establish that a Cooper collaboration was concluded. Its significance is the intent it illustrates: Kanwar was seeking outside know-how and relationships while Apollo was still building its capacity at home.
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How the early strategy connects to Apollo’s later global growth
Apollo’s subsequent milestones show how its international reach developed over time. The company’s own history records the 2009 acquisition of Netherlands-based Vredestein. Apollo materials also document its 2006 acquisition of Dunlop Tyres International in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and the company announced its Hungary facility in 2017 as its first overseas greenfield plant.
| Milestone | What it shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 inception; first plant commissioned in 1975 | Apollo’s early domestic base | Apollo Tyres history |
| Limda, Gujarat plant established in 1991 | Expansion to another Indian manufacturing location | Retrospective coverage; no URL supplied |
| Dunlop Tyres International acquisition in 2006, covering South Africa and Zimbabwe | Expansion through an international acquisition | Apollo Tyres press releases |
| Vredestein acquired in 2009 | Expansion into a Netherlands-based tyre business | Apollo Tyres history |
| Hungary facility announced in 2017 as Apollo’s first overseas greenfield plant; announced investment of €475 million | Overseas manufacturing, beyond acquisitions | Apollo Tyres announcement |
Apollo’s company history says it caters to over 100 countries. That present-day footprint is the result of a longer arc, not something the early Gujarat factory or the Cooper approach achieved by themselves. The sequence is more revealing: build domestic resilience, seek technology and partners, then grow internationally through acquisitions and overseas production.
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What the story says about building a company before liberalisation
- Resilience can be a growth strategy. The second-factory effort was presented as a way to reduce exposure to disruption at Perambra, not merely as a capacity increase.
- Regulation shaped the route. The Gujarat licence episode, as recounted in the biography excerpt, shows how licensing constraints could complicate industrial expansion.
- Global ambition did not require immediate overseas ownership. Kanwar’s reported pursuit of collaboration indicates that international technology and relationships were part of the strategy before Apollo’s later overseas acquisitions and manufacturing.
- The later record is distinct from the early anecdotes. Apollo’s company history and announcements establish major milestones; the licensing negotiations and Cooper approach remain biographical accounts rather than independently documented corporate agreements.
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