NRB shifts gears with strategic leap into industrial bearings via Italian partner Unitec

The partnership marks the company’s formal entry into industrial cylindrical roller bearings—an expansion long envisioned by chairperson and managing director Harshbeena Zaveri, but delayed due to factors rooted in her family’s business legacy.

For NRB, this is not merely a joint venture, it is a reclamation of ambition.

Return to the industrial arena

Zaveri joined NRB in 1986 after graduating from Wellesley College, choosing to begin on the shop floor at the company’s Thane plant rather than in an office. Those early years shaped her convictions about manufacturing excellence and the need to build research and development (R&D) capabilities in India, rather than importing them.

“Innovation in India, not just Make in India" has been her refrain for years, and she has built NRB’s identity around engineering depth, endurance testing, and co-development with customers.

Yet even as she expanded NRB into a global supplier of highly engineered automotive bearings, she observed a self-imposed boundary: the industrial business. That space belonged to her brother’s company, and out of respect for her father’s demarcation—and despite the absence of a formal non-compete—she stayed out.

The death of her father and a subsequent dispute over ownership created further complexity, keeping NRB from exploiting a market segment it was technically capable of serving.

That chapter ended earlier in 2025 when she bought out her brother and consolidated family ownership. Freed from inherited constraints, NRB has begun expanding into industrial applications—construction equipment, off-highway, agriculture, industrial gearboxes—and now, with the Unitec JV, has laid the foundation for a far deeper play.

The Indian bearings market is estimated to be over $6 billion, while NRB’s domestic revenue is roughly $120 million. “Considering the large market size, there is a huge scope to improve share," said Raghunandhan N.L., executive director, non-bank Nuvama Institutional Equities. “Improving presence in the industrial space will help in achieving this target."

Expanding range and capability

Unitec, part of the Mondial Group, brings 60 years of expertise in high-precision industrial bearings and supplies major European original equipment makers such as Bonfiglioli, SAME, Leonardo, and ITEMA. Under the JV, NRB will hold at least 75%, with Unitec owning up to 25%. Manufacturing will take place at a new LEED-certified facility in Uppal, Hyderabad. Importantly, Unitec has committed to purchasing 20% of the JV’s annual output—an early validation of product capability and an anchor for market entry.

Zaveri calls the partnership a “strategic accelerator" that will extend NRB’s reach into high-performance industrial applications while maintaining strict focus on profitability. Exclusive selling arrangements give NRB rights to distribute JV and Unitec products in India, while Unitec will represent the JV in Italy. The agreement also includes non-compete clauses preventing either partner from independently entering the industrial cylindrical bearings business in the country.

Raghunandhan sees this as a strategically timed move. “The JV will provide support to improve NRB’s position in industrial cylindrical bearings," he said. “Scaling up in the industrial segment will be gradual, but well supported by NRB’s engineering capability and testing infrastructure."

Road to diversification

NRB is unusual among auto-component makers in the country for sustaining Ebitda margins above 20%. Zaveri often attributes this to being paid not just for components but for engineering—failure-mode analysis, simulations, endurance testing, and warranties. Will diversifying beyond its needle and cylindrical stronghold erode margins?

“We believe the company should sustain blended Ebitda margins at over 20% in FY26 and FY27," said Raghunandhan. “This is due to its focus on high-margin, high-entry-barrier industries." Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

NRB’s market share positions are telling: 75% in needle bearings and 56% in cylindrical bearings for key OEMs including Honda, TVS, Bajaj, Royal Enfield, Tata Motors, John Deere, and Hyundai. “Each company is focused on specific addressable segments with specific customers," he added. “Competitive intensity is moderate, and NRB should be able to defend its position."

The company’s R&D centre—an ambition Zaveri shaped early in her career—remains central to its strategy. Its development capabilities, built over decades, are expected to help NRB gradually scale its share in new segments such as aerospace, defence, and robotics.

Financially, too, the company is in a comfortable position. With net debt/equity at 0.1x in 2024-25, NRB is well-positioned to fund the capex needed for diversification. The company’s 2030-31 guidance forecasts revenue growing at a 13% compound annual growth rate to reach ₹25 billion, driven by industrial expansion, global OEM programmes, and sustained growth in the automotive sector.

New energy

For Zaveri, the JV is both a strategic milestone and a personal inflexion point. It marks the culmination of a decades-long journey—from starting on the shop floor in Thane to building one of the country's most technologically respected bearing manufacturers, and now reclaiming the industrial territory she once chose to avoid.

Recent financial performance adds momentum to this turning point. For the September quarter, NRB Bearings reported a revenue increase of 7.86% year-on-year to ₹325.20 crore, with net profit rising 15.22% on-year to ₹40.63 crore. Quarter-on-quarter growth was strong as well: 6.3% in revenue and 26.2% in net profit, signalling a broad-based recovery across segments.

As NRB steps into industrial bearings through the Unitec partnership, the company appears to be entering a phase of clarity and confidence—aligned leadership, expanding markets, strong financials, and the engineering DNA Zaveri has nurtured since her very first day on the shop floor.