Apollo Tyres to Open Winter Testing Facility in Finland

14 Aug 2025 CW Team

Apollo Tyres Ltd has announced plans to establish a dedicated outdoor tyre testing facility in Ivalo, Finland, for winter and all-season tyre evaluation. Developed in collaboration with UTAC, a global leader in automotive testing and certification services, the facility is scheduled to be operational by December 2025.

Situated within UTAC’s proving grounds, the site will feature specialised infrastructure and dedicated test tracks replicating real-world snow and ice conditions. The facility will support tyre development and validation across challenging winter and all-season scenarios, enabling the company to optimise performance for both the Apollo and Vredestein brands.

According to Chief Technology Officer Daniele Lorenzetti, the investment will improve testing efficiency, shorten product development timelines, and provide greater control over scheduling. The site will also reduce reliance on shared resources, helping Apollo Tyres accelerate innovation.

The Ivalo facility is designed to meet current and future regulatory and technical standards for winter and all-season tyres, allowing for extended testing periods and faster time-to-market for new products. By centralising testing operations in a controlled, purpose-built environment, Apollo Tyres aims to ensure greater consistency, accuracy, and repeatability of results.

This move aligns with an industry trend towards in-house performance validation, reflecting the need for robust testing amid evolving regulations and shifting climate conditions. Once operational, the facility will support ongoing and future tyre development programmes for Apollo Tyres’ global product lines.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..