CANTON, Ohio, April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Timken Company announced today that it has received a significant bearing order from India- based Jindal Steel & Power Limited, the world's largest coal-based sponge iron plant. The order, worth more than $700,000 (USD), calls for Timken to provide Jindal Steel's Raigarh plant with two types of cylindrical roller bearings. Sponge iron facilities utilize a mixture of iron ore and coal to feed into an electric furnace for melting and steel making. This process is an alternative to the more commonly used raw material of scrap steel.

Jindal Steel placed the order to meet the growing demand for iron and steel in India. The new bearings will be used on six new sponge iron kilns planned for the facility. The plant currently is in the process of setting up four of the new kilns and recently has launched a universal beam rolling mill designed to produce 120-meter rails; the longest manufactured in India.

"Timken earned the business because of its response to our needs at the mill," said Manoj Kumar, senior purchasing manager for Jindal Steel. "It offered a wide range of friction management solutions that will help us to keep the mill running at highly productive levels."

"We have been working with Jindal Steel since 2002 and have a strong, ongoing partnership," said J. P. Sinha, Timken director of sales and marketing for India. "We're excited about the opportunity to bring our relationship to the next level as Timken becomes a more integral part of Jindal Steel's expansion."

In addition to supplying new bearings, Timken works with Jindal Steel to provide bearing repair and hands-on training for its personnel while drawing upon the expertise of its global engineering and research facility in Bangalore, India for continuous improvement and innovation.

The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR, www.timken.com) is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels and a provider of related products and services with operations in 29 countries. The company recorded 2003 sales of $3.8 billion and employed approximately 26,000 at year-end.

For Additional Information: Eric Stasiowski, Manager - Marketing Communications, (330) 471-4392, or visit http://www.timken.com/media

Investor Contact: Kevin R. Beck, Manager - Investor Relations, (330) 471-7181

SOURCE The Timken Company