New Delhi: For nearly three decades, Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT) built its identity around a focused bet: manufacturing specialized off-highway tyres in India and selling them across global markets. The strategy turned the Mumbai-based company into India’s largest exporter in the segment. But as tariff wars, slowing western markets and geopolitical disruptions reshape global trade, the Poddar family-promoted company is reworking that strategy with a sharper focus on India, on-road tyres and adjacent businesses such as carbon black.
The shift marks a significant transition. India's second largest tyre maker’s dependence on international off-highway tyre sales has steadily reduced, with export contribution in the segment falling to 64% in FY26 from 71% a year earlier and 82% in FY22. “I don’t think anybody can stay aloof from geopolitical scenarios,” joint managing director Rajiv Poddar told Mint.
“You prepare yourself. Expansion into on-road, diversification in carbon black, and looking at newer geographies in the on-road, off-road businesses, is what we are doing,” Poddar added.
The tyre industry has had to face multiple international headwinds since last year when Donald Trump administration announced tariffs on tyre imports, with the West Asia war adding another cost and logistical challenge to the companies.
An expansion to a different segment has become even more crucial given the fact that other companies, including the RPG Group's CEAT, are trying to expand into the off-highway space long dominated by BKT.
The company’s core DNA of heavily relying on exports of off-highway tyres is changing. According to the financial year 2026 data, the share of sales for its off-highway tyres from the international markets was down to 64% from 71% a year ago. The share of sales from exports in the financial year 2022 was 82%.
The company is one of the largest players in geographies such as the US and Europe, with both of the markets recording a decline in vehicle production last year. According to data from the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), automobile production in Asia-Oceania grew 7.6% in 2025, compared to 2024, while Europe and the Americas saw declines of 0.8% and 2.1%, respectively.
Balkrishna saw its revenue growth slow down to 3% last year to ₹10,823 crore, while the net profit fell 18% to ₹1,243 crore.
In the last one year, the company's shares have declined 11% as against the 12% gain in Nifty Auto, with investors remaining wary owing to its exposure to global headwinds.
The company is changing that. “If you see the journey in the last five years, from being a 90% export-oriented company, off-road, we've seen domestic market’s share rise significantly,” Poddar said.
The tyre enterprise was founded in 1987 by Arvind Poddar, father of Rajiv Poddar, who built on the foundation of his father’s Mahabirprasad Poddar bicycle tyre business started in 1954. From the onset, the company focused on the off-highway tyre space, with exports picking up from the mid 1990s to become the firm's mainstay.
Rajiv Poddar joined the business in 2008 as executive director and was elevated to the position of joint managing director in 2013, leading the transition of the family-owned enterprise. Rajiv Poddar is married to Khushboo Poddar, the elder daughter of Manoj Modi, a close associate of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Off-highway tyres are typically used in agricultural, construction and mining-linked vehicles while the on-highway ones are used in two-wheelers, passenger vehicles and trucks.
The company entered the on-highway segment earlier this year with a range of products for two-wheelers and commercial vehicles as part of its strategy of more than doubling revenue to ₹23,000 crore by financial year 2030.
“The first phase of the on-road business would focus on India. So on-road business would become India-centric. The carbon business would be India-centric. And the off-road would continue to have India as a strong pillar of its journey,” Poddar said.
Carbon black is a key filler used in tyres for their strength and durability, acting as a key raw material that BKT has monetized.
Balkrishna Industries’ strategy is in line with the trend in the tyre industry of looking into different product spaces. Rival CEAT, India's fourth largest tyre maker, is trying to make inroads into the off-highway tyre space in the global market, for which it acquired Canadian tyre brand Camso in 2024.
When asked if Balkrishna could also explore acquisitions in the near future to accelerate its growth, Poddar said the company is largely oriented towards organic growth, and will not bet on big aquisitions.
“We rely a lot more on our own technology. All the technology that we have for all the product lines or verticals of ours are fully inhouse,” he said.
“We believe a lot in our investment on the branding, for our own brand. So, when you're doing those things already, the opportunity for acquisition gets lower. And historically, we've not done it,” Poddar added.
Analysts have remained bullish in how the company will build its presence in different markets and gain global market share along with diversifying its play.
“Its market share in the global OHT segment worth $20bn is merely at 6–7%. Within this, agri market share is 8–9% while non-agri is 2–3%. Within regions, Europe is over 7% while the US is below 5%. Potential for improvement exists and medium-term target is 8%, led by deeper penetration in existing markets and addition of new products/customers,” analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities wrote in a 9 May note.
Some analysts feel the company’s play of diversifying into the on-road business will take time to fully materialize and reflect big gains.
“The long gestation period for commercial vehicle tyre products to establish themselves in the transport segment, we feel, will test our patience,” said a 10 May note by InCred Equities.