Kelani Tyres PLC is a tyre manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Kelani Tyres originates in the privatisation of the government-owned Ceylon Tyre Corporation. Initially, privatisation is met with extreme employee industrial action for several months. Once the employee unrest dwindled, the company entered into an agreement with CEAT to set up a joint venture in 1993. In 1994, Kelani Tyres was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. In 2022, CEAT was amongst the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka. The company moved to meet the total domestic demand for bus and truck tyres which would save LKR11 billion in foreign exchange through import substitution.
History
Sri Lankan Government's state-owned enterprise Ceylon Tyre Corporation was privatised as Kelani Tyres (Pvt) Ltd in 1992.[2] The privatisation yielded LKR400 million for the government, and 2,000 workers were working at the factory at the time.[3] Soon after the privatisation, the company plagued with industrial unrest for seven months. The new owners closed the factory, and prohibited workers from entering the premises. The labour issues were resolved and the factory commenced operations again.[4]