Apollo Tyres has said that it is planning to invest about $1 billion or about Rs 5,545 crore during the next five years on its global expansion plans.

The company is planning to set up two new plants in South East Asia and Eastern Europe. Apollo Tyres will also convert its Kalamassery plant in Kerala into a dedicated unit for producing off-highway tyres (OHTs) and about 85 per cent of the output is aimed at the export to US, Europe, Australia and Latin America and other countries.

Apollo Tyres will also expand its capacity in its plant in the Netherlands from the current 6 million units per annum to 7.5 million units per year. The company is planning to raise funds through a placement to QIBs and internal accruals.

Apollo Tyre Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Neeraj Kanwar said, "Over the next five years, we will be setting up two new greenfield plants, one either in Thailand or Indonesia and another in Eastern Europe in a phased manner. All these projects put together, including our Kerala and the Netherlands units, we are looking at an investment of $one billion."