The project, scheduled to commence production in the second quarter of 2011, will enable a capacity increase of 2.4 million races of up to-8-inch tapered roller bearings. This size is used in construction and other off-highway vehicles as well as heavy trucks and other commercial transportation systems.

The expansion is scheduled for completion in Q4 of 2011.

"A fast growing economy, like India, warrants an even faster development of infrastructure and our products are targeted to meet this distinct upward trend in consumption. To match up with the increasing demand, we will be continuously looking to ramp up capacity," added Ajay Das.

The Chennai plant was set up at a capital investment of $25 million and has been functional from April 2008.

"We have relatively long lead times on machines. We source machines from around the world. We look for the best process capability. So we don't really have a local  preference. We focus on the best machines which give maximum performance," said Keith Johnson, Manager Marketing - Process Industries Europe in an earlier interview.

The company has an R&D center in Bangalore. The technology center in Bangalore is intended to help Indian manufacturers to optimise their design. In addition to application engineers who support clients, Timken has a testing capability in Bangalore to validate product performance. The company has a lot of sub-contractors in India to support global operations. It also has Supplier Quality Assurance division in Bangalore to cater to local suppliers.