GGB Opens Location in India

GGB (formerly Glacier Garlock Bearings, a division of EnPro Industries, Inc.) has opened a location in New Delhi, India, the first step in an effort to build more of a presence in the rapidly expanding market. While GGB has operations in 17 countries, it was not active in India. Joe Fults, GGB's VP of Business Development, said, "India has been a prime target for us for some time. As we continue our global expansion, we felt it was imperative to have a physical presence in this important market." Formerly part of Goodrich, GGB is the world's largest manufacturer of prelubricated and self-lubricating metal-polymer plain bearings. GGB has production facilities in the United States, Germany, France, Slovakia and Brazil, along with 22 other operating units in 17 countries. The company's present form was assembled from Garlock Bearings and Glacier Industrial Bearing, which Goodrich acquired from Dana in May 2001. The combined unit was renamed Glacier Garlock Bearings. In mid-2002, Goodrich spun off its manufacturing businesses as EnPro Industries; Glacier Garlock Bearings is the key manufacturing component of EnPro. The business was renamed GGB in early 2004. Mr. Fults said GGB's initial focus in India will be to penetrate the OEM markets as a bearing supplier for both automotive and industrial products. To that end, Jasvinder Sing Bhatia has been appointed to head the company's marketing and sales efforts in India. Mr. Sing Bhatia is a veteran of both Tata Motor Company and Shiram Pistons.