CEAT Kelani Holdings, one of Sri Lanka’s manufacturing success stories, has been named among the country’s top 10 companies for best management practices by the Institute of Chartered Professional Managers (CPM) Sri Lanka.
The Top 10 award was presented to the company in respect of its performance in 2023 at the third edition of CPM’s ‘Best Management Practices Company Awards.’ The awards recognise best practices in management in terms of leadership, policies and strategies, people management, partnerships & resources, processes and performance.
CEAT Kelani, which manufactures nearly half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements, embarked on a new initiative in 2023 to fortify key enablers, targeting revenue of Rs 26 billion by 2025-26 via winning products, manufacturing and service excellence and first-to-market digitalization.
The plan envisages the CEAT brand retaining dominant market share in the truck and bus and light truck tyre segment, and building on its market-leading shares in passenger car and van radials, truck bus radials and motorcycle tyres.
“We are naturally elated to be recognised by an institute of the stature of CPM as one of the 10 best managed companies in Sri Lanka,” CEAT Kelani Managing Director Mr Ravi Dadlani said. “This award is particularly noteworthy in the context of CEAT Kelani’s genesis as the progeny of a contentious privatisation of a state-owned enterprise in 1992.”
“Over the years, the CEAT Kelani joint venture has been cited as a case study for a successful privatisation on the basis of its achievements in productivity, product development, investments in expansion, deployment of new technology, research and development, local market leadership, exports and its support to the national effort to conserve foreign exchange,” Mr Dadlani added. “This award for management practices is the icing on the cake.”
CEAT Kelani’s achievements in the year assessed for the CPM Award included becoming the first tyre manufacturing company in Sri Lanka to receive the prestigious IATF 16949 automotive quality management system standard certification from the International Automotive Task Force (IATF); receiving a National Long-Term rating of ‘AA+(lka)/Stable’ from Fitch Ratings for the third consecutive year; and taking its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partnerships in Sri Lanka to more than 10.
The CEAT brand originated in Italy and is backed by German engineering technology and extensive research and testing facilities in India and Europe. In addition to manufacturing half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements, CEAT Kelani Holdings exports about 20 per cent of its production to 16 countries and plays a significant role in helping the national economy conserve foreign exchange by reducing dependence on imported tyres. The joint venture’s cumulative investment in Sri Lanka over the past decade exceeds Rs 8.5 billion.
