SKF India Ltd., (a publicly-traded subsidiary of SKF AB; Sweden; Stockholm: SKFA) announced it is building a greenfield manufacturing plant in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

The new facility will focus on high-volume, standard sizes of ball bearings -- primarily to address demand from India's fast-growing two-wheeler market, but also from other market segments for similar specifications.

Scheduled to be complete and online by mid-2008, Haridwar will cover 11,000 square meters (118,000 square feet). The state-of-the-art automated factory will initially employ approximately 300 people. It is budgeted to come in at SEK 250 million (USD $6 million).

The new plant will boost SKF's Indian ball bearing production by more than a third, helping ease pressure on its capacity-constrained sister plants in Pune and Bangalore.

Also, Haridwar is part of an announced program to boost investment rates, production and sales in India, eventually putting Rs 5 billion ($115 million) in investments there. Constrained production remains a problem, so the company has set a goal of doubling output 2010.

2005 article: SKF India reveals expansion plans
2006 article: SKF India will add cylindrical bearings
2007 article: SKF boosts investment in India
SKF's sales in India hit a record Rs 13 billion ($295 million) in 2006, up more than 33% from 2005's Rs 10 billion ($223 million).

Historically, SKF has been investing around Rs 1 billion ($23 million) each year in India, both expanding production of existing products and adding new sizes and types.

Although some of the additional investment will go toward bearing production and plants such as Haridwar, the primary push will be focused on seals, lubricants and highly profitable value-added products and services. Products and services for the fast-growing wind energy market will also get a boost.