SKF to invest Rs 400 cr in new manufacturing capacity plans

Mumbai, Nov 15 (UNI) SKF, a leading technology and solutions provider of bearings, seals, services and other related products, will invest Rs 400 crore in new manufacturing capacity in India.

SKF president and CEO Tom Johnstone told mediapersons that the company will invest a total of Rs 400 crore with the first installment of Rs 150 crore in its upcoming plant in Uttarkhand.

This plant will cater mainly to the automotive and two-wheeler industry. With this investment, the targeted capacity will increase approximately by 50 per cent alone in the bearings sector.

The second plant with an investment of Rs 270 crore was recently announced for the manufacture of large size industrial bearings. The plant will be located in Ahmedabad and production is expected to start by the first quarter of 2009. The new plant will serve both the domestic market and the global markets. In India, the SKF Group started trading operations in Kolkata in 1923 and since then the Group's operations have been consolidated into SKF India Ltd, he said.

SKF also has an associate company called SKF Sealing Solutions.

The company has four business units in India and two bearing manufacturing plants in Bangalore and Pune, Mr Johnstone said.

The company also has a SKF College campus at its Pune location, which is a training hub to support the development of the SKF Group in India as well as in international regions, he added.

UNI