Expanding its tire range, BKT is showcasing two new novelties at the bauma CONEXPO. Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, shares more… Expectation from the expo: We are excited to be participating in bauma CONEXPO India 2023 after the fouryear COVID gap. One major reason is because we are able to connect with our buyers and customers. We believe in building strong relationships with our customers and exhibitions as these give us an opportunity to connect well. With a lot of innovation and new technologies being introduced, we are positive that it will help us connect with other new leads as well. We are looking forward to interacting with other industry players too. Product innovation this year: This year we are showcasing two new novelties at the bauma CONEXPO, which expands the BKT tire ranges and demonstrates how the Indian multinational is attentive to users’ needs, and future trends, furthermore proposing suitable and specific solutions for all operating conditions. In fact, all BKT products stem from the continuous feedback shared by users, as we believe that it is imperative in product development. Additionally, we understand the importance of integrating sustainability within the new technologies being introduced for the sector and are committed to pioneering sustainability for the OTR tire segment. For this reason, all the products that we will be displaying at bauma CONEXPO India 2023 have been carefully designed to meet the changing needs of the new-age markets. We are confident that our offerings will be game-changers for the construction and mining industries. Challenges faced in the industry: The geopolitical situation has created unprecedented supply chainrelated disruptions, impacting both pricing as well as the availability of raw materials. In addition, the logistics and freight costs continued to remain at elevated levels. This, in turn, may act as a huge restraining factor for the market to grow further at the same pace. For BKT, however, our end-user markets were buoyant despite inflationary trends. As in the past, we gained market share because the off-highway tire industry witnessed higher uptake on account of healthy demand across mining and agricultural markets.