Timken to beef up heavy equipment business

Kolkata: The Timken group is investing $50 million for setting up its third plant in Chennai for manufacturing heavyweight earthmoving equipment.

The group is also foraying into manufacturing mining equipment which will be manufactured at its Chennai plant. Production at the Chennai plant is likely to start mid-2008.

The company is in talks with BEML and Caterpillar for equipment supply. At present, the group has an engineering and research plant in Bangalore that designs and tests products. Its second plant in Jamshedpur manufactures heavyweight machinery like trucks.

Gordon Robinson, managing director of Timken India said, “We have received a $6.5 million order, the largest order so far in the private wagon manufacturing sector, from Titagarh Wagon.” Timken is also planning to get into collaboration with other companies.