In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Make in India” initiative. Under this scheme, the Indian government is encouraging the localisation of equipment for future nuclear power projects, with the aim of achieving a capacity of 22,480 MW by 2031 from the current operating capacity of 6,780 MW.

Over the last 25 years, Michell Bearings India has developed into a proven supplier of hydrodynamic bearings and the associated support services to original equipment manufacturers and end users in the Indian market. A core element of the company strategy is to deliver product solutions for Indian nuclear power projects in line with the Government of India objectives for localisation and Indian manufacturing content.

The Bangalore factory is a modern manufacturing facility with high-end precision machines and uses identical manufacturing processes and quality control measures to those at Michell Bearings UK, from which full technical support is available when required. The company has access to a long established Indian supply chain for materials, components and sub-contract machining, when required, to supplement in-house manufacturing resources.

Key Indian customers include BHEL Bhopal, BHEL Hyderabad, CG, Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Xylem, Triveni, Jyoti, WILO, Sulzer & KSB.  For the last 26 years Michell Bearings India has worked in partnership with Indian equipment manufacturers and end users resulting in a sound understanding of their requirements.  This has enabled Michell Bearings to develop and supply product solutions that have been designed, developed and tested to suit the wider application, in addition to through-life support, from an Indian base.

In the nuclear power sector, Michell Bearings has the capability to design and manufacture hydrodynamic bearings for all applications within a nuclear power plant.  This includes bearings for reactor coolant pumps and motors inside the nuclear island and other applications in the conventional island such as bearings for cooling water circulation pumps, condensate extraction pumps, steam turbines and generators.

All bearing products can be offered to customers with 100% Indian material and manufacturing content whether to specific Michell Bearings’ designs or on a bespoke basis. Michell Bearings India can also support all hydrodynamic bearing products in service in India from India in terms of repair, spares supply or on-site service.

Efforts to achieve 100% Indian localisation are not limited to the nuclear power sector.  For the last 26 years, numerous equipment has been supplied by Michell Bearings India to other sectors of Indian industry notably thermal power, hydro power, water industry and lift irrigation.  The supply of main propulsion bearings for future Indian naval applications is also a core element of the business strategy.

A recent interview was conducted with Steve Dixon, CEO, Michell Bearings UK, Geoff Humble, Sales and Marketing Director, Michell Bearings UK and Mr. A.P. Malpani, Managing Director, Michell Bearings India, on the recent achievements and localisation activities in the Indian nuclear energy market. You can view the video here.