Harsha Engineers (India; website) announced plans to build a greenfield manufacturing plant to produce bearing cages / retainers in China.

Founded in 1972, Harsha is one of the world's largest manufacturers of bearing cages / retainers in all types of material and construction -- brass, bronze, plastics and steel. Since 2004, the company has also been manufacturing bearing seals and shields.

Harsha currently employs over 650 people across two plants in India, Changodar and Moraiya. Both are reportedly operating at or near capacity, with a third planned.

The company said producing in China will cut both inbound and outbound costs, particularly as it exports a large number of finished cages to customers in China.

Establishing a production base there, Harsha also hopes to not only continue supplying its existing customers in China but also gain leverage into new customers supplying bearings to the region's fast-growing OEM automotive market.

Budgeted at Rs 700 million (USD $17.5 million), the plant will come online in stages, eventually producing 2.5 million retainers each month. Covering 25,000 square meters, it will primarily employ German and U.S. equipment and machine tools. No employment numbers were mentioned.

Harsha is already a major supplier to ABC, NEI, Timken, SKF, FAG, and many others. Managing Director Rajendra Shah said: "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."

Mr. Shah said the company is also planning to build another plant in India, near Vadodara, primarily to supply Timken.

Harsha exports approximately 65% of its production and has around 3% global market share for cages / retainers. Its target is 10% global market share by 2010.