Harsha Engineers to Open Bearings Factory in China


Bearings maker Harsha Engineers is setting up a factory in China to pare costs and to cater to global automobile players, who currently source large volumes from the country, but little from India. Company CMD Raju Shah says he will invest Rs 70 crore to set up the greenfield unit that will have a capacity to produce 2.5 million units of bearings every month.

The Rs 213-crore company is looking at raising money through a public issue or from private equity. Mr Shah says he has orders from Timken, SKF and FAG, among others. “But we want to be close to our customer base. Most global players still prefer bulk-buying in China and we don’t want to lose out,” says Mr Shah.

Nearly 60% of the world’s bearings are produced in China where manufacturers enjoy the advantage of low-cost technology and lower labour wages. Mr Shah adds that he has the support of the global bearing giants. This not only helps them to get a regular supply of bearing components but also pushes the growth story of smaller companies.
tapash.talukdar@timesgroup.com

Harsha Engineers will set up the cage bearing manufacturing plant in phases over a two-year period. The unit will be set up over a total area of 25,000 sq metres. New, efficient machines will be imported from the US and Europe to ensure global quality. Mr Shah said he hopes to become a Rs 400-crore company in two years.

The funds will be raised either through a public issue or private equity. “We are looking at possible financial solutions for the foray,” says Harsha Engineers’ director Harish Rangwala. The company is planning to set up another unit near Vadodara with an investment of Rs 15 crore, from a where major production will be supplied to Timken.

The plant set up with technical collaboration with a Sweden-based company will commence operations next year. Harsha Engineers manufactures cage bearings at two units near Ahmedabad for its global clients such as Timken, SKF, FAG, NSK, China, NRB, ABC, NEI, HMT, Koyo and 23 other bearing companies in the world.

The cage bearing industry in the world is worth $2.5 billion. Harsha Engineers supplies nearly 65% of its total production to exports market and is talking to a few Japanese companies to increase exports.

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