Sanjay Koul, Chairman & Managing Director, TIMKEN India, speaks about the company’s footprint in India.

When did the company come to India? What changes have you witnessed during this period?

The Timken company has been selling its products in India for more than 50 years initially through the distributors and then the company came to India and established its manufacturing base in 1990. When Timken came to India, it was still a closed economy and the winds of change were just starting. In the last 25 years we have witnessed a sea change from being a slow sluggish and closed economy to a vibrant and growing economy in the world. It has emerged as strong business destination and we for sure have felt the change and ease of doing business in India.

What are the main products/activities of the company in India? 

The company has three manufacturing set ups in India under different legal entities and also have a technology centre in India. We make Taper roller bearing in India which are used by the heavy commercial truck, agriculture, rail applications. We also exporting bearing out of India to Europe and North America and make some of the most advance bearings for Wind and Rail applications in India. We do import bearings for many other applications be it aero, defence, process, metal or power sector applications from our sister plants from across the world.

How significant is the Indian business? 

India is a home market for the Timken company. Timken India limited does around 1175 Crore of business in India and our other entities export products which are Made in India for Global markets. Apart from this we do lot of advance engineering and IT services from out technology centre in Bangalore for our international customers. India is emerging as a  strong best cost source for many engineered products and hence India is very important destination for the Timken Company.

Make in India initiative – Is this the best time to be in the Indian market? 

Yes this is a great initiative and a great time to be in the Indian market. We all have the responsibility to make sure that we work to make this great endeavour a big success. This is going to be a game changer for the nation by providing the jobs and the resultant growth.

GST is now a near certainty. What more steps are required to make the country more business friendly? 

GST is for sure a great step in the right direction. We have to concentrate in other area’s so that ease of doing business is at par with countries like China, but Global players sees this as an attractive destination for investment and the resultant returns. We for sure have to look at the infrastructure and make sure our current top cities become de congested and our smart cities become the new destination for living and doing business.