INA Bearings - building a base for the future

At a time when the global economy has taken a downturn and the Indian automobile industry in the doldrums, German auto-components major, Industriewerk Schaeffler INA Ingenieurdienst Gmbh – or the INA group as it is better known – has set up a fully owned subsidiary, INA Bearings India, to make needle roller bearings at Urawade near Pune.

The INA group, which is the largest privately held industrial group in Germany and has over 30 manufacturing units worldwide, makes precision engineering products for automotive, machine tool, material handling and general engineering applications.

Its major focus, however, is in the automotive sector. Its product range includes roller and specialised ball bearings, linear systems, belt tensioners and engine components.

The group has been supplying needle roller bearings and other anti-frictional bearings and components to the Indian automobile sector over many years. It has now thought fit to put up a manufacturing base here.

"It's the same chicken-and-egg story," said INA Holding president and chief executive officer, Dr Juergen Geissinger, who was in Pune to inaugurate the new plant, explaining the company's decision to set up a manufacturing base in the country at this juncture.

"The question always is whether to put up a plant without business, or first create business and then put up a plant. Since our credibility with our customers had already been built up here and that and we had the basic volumes of local sales, we took the decision to start manufacturing it right here."