CK Birla Group Company, NBC Bearings, has started working on manufacturing bearings for the aerospace and space sector. The company plans to start manufacturing and sending out samples of the same to potential customers within this calendar year.
Rohit Saboo, President & CEO, National Engineering Industries (NBC Bearings) told Mobility Outlook, “These are technically very difficult to manufacture. It was about six years ago that we started working on bearings for the aerospace and space verticals with ISRO.”
If things go according to plan, NBC will be among the early movers to make bearings for these sectors, here in India. Saboo had hinted at this move in an earlier interaction. NBC acquired Slovakia-based bearing manufacturer Kinex Bearings in 2020 as part of this diversification effort.
“Kinex has an aerospace division and we have learned a lot from that team,“ said Saboo. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative has also prompted the Indian Space Agency, Indian Air Force and other organisations to make bearings locally.
INR 50 Cr Investment
According to Saboo, NBC is a natural partner for these entities. It is also working with different IITs in order to develop these bearings and has earmarked INR 50 crore for aerospace and space in 2023-24.
“We supply millions of bearings to the automotive vertical but this number in aerospace and space will be limited to a few hundreds,” he added.
The company will also be investing money in R&D. “At the moment, we are regrouping our R&D and working on creating a separate aerospace & space team,” said Saboo.
Manufacturing In Jaipur
NBC is using its Jaipur facility to set up the aerospace & space-bearing manufacturing plant and intends to start commercial production by March 2024. “Plant construction is going on and we will start making samples by December 2023,' said Saboo.
Beyond the Indian market, the company will also reach out to international players through Kinex which already meets the needs of various aircraft engine makers.
Meeting the tolerance level in aerospace and space bearings is the biggest challenge for NBC. It will manufacture every single bearing 'manually' with a team of 35 people. “The tolerance level in automotive bearings is 20 to 50 microns but here it is only up to two microns,” he explained.
According to Markets & Markets, the global aerospace bearings business is forecast to reach $14.7 billion by 2026. Right now, only a handful of countries make such bearings, a list that includes Sweden, Japan, the US and Germany.
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