As India’s coal, iron ore and critical mineral mining expands under the country’s self reliance push, Ascenso scales its India manufactured All Steel Radial range toward 49 inch giant tyres, deploys Field Application Engineers across the country’s key mining belts, and lays out a multi year technology roadmap.
India’s mining industry is entering one of its most consequential phases in decades. A fast expanding steel sector, rising coal and iron ore output, and a renewed national push to secure critical minerals such as copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements — through initiatives such as the National Critical Mineral Mission and the auctioning of mineral blocks under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act — are together driving a new wave of investment in domestic mining capacity. This build out sits within India’s broader Atmanirbhar Bharat (self reliant India) agenda, which has placed growing emphasis on developing mining, processing and equipment capability within the country rather than depending on imports.
Mining operators across India’s coal, iron ore, bauxite and limestone belts — from Odisha and Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — are under increasing pressure to raise fleet productivity, extend equipment uptime and lower operating costs, even as mines grow larger, more mechanised and increasingly automated. Tyres, once viewed as a routine consumable, are increasingly recognised as mission critical performance assets that directly influence machine productivity, fuel efficiency, safety and total cost of ownership.
Recognising this shift, and the opportunity it presents for domestic manufacturing, Ascenso – one of India’s fastest growing Off Highway Tyre brands – today announced a significant strategic expansion into the mining segment through its All Steel Radial Off The Road (ROTR) portfolio, designed, engineered and manufactured in India. The move addresses a gap that has long existed in the Indian market: large format mining tyres of this scale have historically been sourced almost entirely from overseas manufacturers, with very few companies anywhere in the world, and virtually none in India, designing and building giant OTR tyres domestically. The announcement marks a defining milestone in Ascenso’s evolution, from a globally recognised Agriculture, Forestry and Construction (AFC) tyre specialist into a technology driven performance brand for India’s, and the world’s, most demanding earthmoving and mining applications.
A Long Term, Make in India Commitment to Mining
Supporting this expansion is a focused investment of US$100 million, dedicated exclusively to building world class All Steel Radial (ASR) tyre manufacturing capability at Ascenso’s production facility in India. The investment spans advanced manufacturing infrastructure, specialised radial production technology, product development and testing capability, engineering talent, giant tyre manufacturing infrastructure and future capacity expansion – all built and staffed within the country.
Beginning with 25 inch tyres, Ascenso’s mining portfolio has rapidly expanded to include 49 inch giant mining tyres, with even larger sizes already under development, enabling the company to serve applications ranging from construction and quarrying to large open pit mining operations. The company notes that this makes it only the second Indian tyre brand, and the fifth globally outside China, to venture into giant tyre manufacturing with its own in house design and development capability – a distinction that reflects the growing depth of engineering capability being built within India, in a segment long dominated by global majors and Chinese manufacturers. Ascenso’s long term vision is to build one of the industry’s most comprehensive radial mining tyre portfolios, engineered in India and supported by continuous innovation.
Performance Priced for Indian Mining Economics
Ascenso has built its Radial OTR strategy around a single philosophy: premium performance at a competitive price. Every Radial OTR tyre is benchmarked against established global premium brands during design, engineering and validation. Rather than competing purely on cost, Ascenso is positioning itself to deliver performance approaching leading global brands while offering the value proposition that Indian mining operators, who weigh productivity and cost efficiency in equal measure, are looking for. The company believes this positioning, combined with its performance credentials in the 35 inch and above range, gives it a genuine point of entry into a segment in India that has so far been served almost entirely by imported tyres.
Engineering With Customers, on the Ground in India
Mining environments differ dramatically across regions, equipment types and operating conditions, and no laboratory can fully replicate real world mining operations. Ascenso is therefore investing heavily in customer facing engineering capability, deploying more than 15 dedicated Field Application Engineers across key mining markets globally, including India’s major mining belts. These specialists will work directly alongside mine operators to monitor tyre performance, analyse wear behaviour, understand local operating conditions and feed continuous data back into Ascenso’s global R&D organisation. This customer integrated development model is designed to speed up product optimisation while ensuring future generations of Ascenso mining tyres continue to evolve based on real operating conditions in India and other markets.
A Technology Roadmap for India and the World
Ascenso’s Radial OTR journey began in late 2023, after extensive engagement with customers highlighted a growing need for high performance radial mining tyres across multiple geographies, including India. The company assembled a specialised team of experienced OTR engineers, application specialists and dedicated R&D professionals to build a completely new technology platform. Within a short period, Ascenso has commercialised multiple Radial OTR products and laid out an aggressive roadmap extending into giant mining tyres, specialised tread patterns and larger wheel diameters through 2027 and 2028, spanning mining, earthmoving and loader applications.
A Performance Led Brand, Built in India
Ascenso is deliberately positioning itself alongside established global performance brands rather than competing purely on price. The company’s stated intent is to be benchmarked on performance against leading global manufacturers while remaining available at a competitive price point – an approach it believes gives Indian mining operators a credible, domestically manufactured alternative to imported tyres, without asking them to compromise on performance.
“India’s mining sector is scaling up like never before, and the equipment that powers it needs tyres that can match that ambition. Building this capability in India, for India as well as the rest of the world, has been central to our thinking from the start. Our US$100 million investment is about building world class radial mining tyre engineering and manufacturing capability within the country, not simply adding capacity. We want Indian mining operators to have access to global standard performance without having to look overseas for it, and we intend to compete on that performance, not on price alone.”
Mr Yogesh Mahansaria, Managing Director, Ascenso Tyres
“Over the past four years, our foundation in Agriculture, Forestry and Construction taught us how important it is to stay close to customers on the ground, and that is exactly the approach we are bringing to mining. We are placing field application engineers directly in India’s key mining belts, from the coalfields of Jharkhand and Odisha to the iron ore regions of Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, so that we can respond to real operating conditions as they happen. Reaching 49 inch giant mining tyres, engineered here in India, is a significant milestone, not just for Ascenso but for what Indian manufacturing is capable of in this space. We see this as the start of a long term commitment to mining customers in India and around the world.”
Mr Dhaval Nanavati, Chief Executive Officer, Ascenso Tyres
Looking ahead, Ascenso has laid out a multi year roadmap for its R OTR range that extends into 2027 and 2028, progressively adding sizes and patterns across mining, earthmoving and loader applications. The company says this roadmap reflects a long term, sustained commitment to the mining segment, in India and globally, consistent with its broader philosophy of ‘Never Stop Rising.’