Transforming India’s Cold-roll Forming
Dhirendra Sankhla
Director
Mother India Forming Private Limited
Transforming India’s Cold-roll Forming
Dhirendra Sankhla
Director
Mother India Forming Private Limited
Manufacturing leadership today is no longer defined by output alone. It is shaped by the ability to anticipate change, engineer resilience, and build systems that can withstand global scrutiny over time. As supply chains realign and precision becomes central to competitiveness, India’s industrial story is being rewritten by leaders who think beyond factories and focus on building complete manufacturing ecosystems.
This shift is clearly reflected in the journey of Dhirendra Sankhla, Director of Mother India Forming Private Limited. Over more than two decades, he has played a defining role in shaping the company into a precision-led manufacturing enterprise rooted in cold roll forming, customised tube engineering, intelligent automation, and a strong commitment to sustainability. His leadership reflects deep engineering involvement, long-term strategic thinking, and a consistent focus on quality and reliability at scale for global OEMs.
In an exclusive conversation with TradeFlock, Dhirendra Sankhla shares insights from this journey, discussing the challenges faced, the strategies that drove growth, and his perspective on India’s expanding role as a trusted global partner in precision manufacturing.
India is moving from a raw material supplier to a value-added manufacturing hub. How do you see Mother India Forming contributing to this shift?
India’s manufacturing journey is at a decisive inflexion point. The country is expected to remain among the fastest-growing major economies, supported by manufacturing, infrastructure, and exports. Sustained growth, however, will depend not on volume alone, but on value addition and engineering depth.
Mother India Forming contributes to this shift by transforming sheet metal into precision-engineered, ready-to-assemble components that integrate directly into global OEM platforms. This aligns closely with national manufacturing initiatives and the sharp rise in engineering goods exports reflects growing global confidence in Indian manufacturing capability. Our responsibility is to ensure that this confidence is built on consistency, quality, and long-term reliability.
Automotive and EV manufacturing are undergoing rapid change. How is cold roll forming reshaping this sector?
Automotive and electric vehicle manufacturing are being reshaped by regulations, electrification, and modular vehicle platforms. Lightweighting has become central to fuel efficiency, safety compliance, and EV range optimisation. A significant share of global cold rolled sheet metal demand already comes from automotive applications, underscoring the importance of this technology.
Cold roll-formed components offer superior strength-to-weight ratios and high dimensional stability, making them suitable for chassis members, crash structures, battery enclosures, and reinforcement beams. As OEMs increasingly adopt global vehicle architectures, the ability to deliver identical components at scale has become a decisive advantage.
Mother India Forming: Building India’s Precision Cold-Roll Forming Advantage in Global Manufacturing
Integration and intelligent automation are now strategic necessities. Global OEMs increasingly seek partners who can manage the entire manufacturing lifecycle within a single, accountable system.
Our investment in advanced robotics and automation supports higher precision, real-time inspection, and continuous monitoring. These capabilities significantly reduce variability, improve consistency, and reinforce India’s position as a reliable source of high precision manufacturing.
Mother India Forming has invested heavily in integration and automation. How does this impact competitiveness?
As global manufacturing shifts toward lightweighting, sustainability, and precision-led production, India is redefining its role from a supplier of raw materials to a partner in advanced engineering. Mother India Forming, based in Bengaluru, reflects this transition through its focus on precision cold roll forming, integrated manufacturing, and intelligent automation.
Serving OEMs across automotive, electric mobility, construction equipment, railways, renewable energy, warehousing, defence, and industrial systems, the company has positioned itself as a strategic manufacturing partner rather than a conventional component supplier.
"Industries today demand more than raw steel. They seek ready-to-assemble, precision-engineered components that reduce costs and shorten production timelines,” – Santosh Venkatasubbaiah, Director Sales and Marketing."
An Integrated Manufacturing Ecosystem
What differentiates Mother India Forming is the depth of its integration. The company operates a consolidated manufacturing ecosystem covering design, simulation, in-house tooling, roll forming, welding, bending, cutting, coating, finishing, and automated inspection.
This approach reduces lead times, strengthens quality control, and addresses the challenges of fragmented supply chains by providing customers with a single, accountable manufacturing partner.
Intelligent Automation and Robotics
At EXCON Bengaluru, Mother India Forming showcased advanced humanoid and quadruped robotic systems designed to support precision manufacturing. These systems enable automated handling, process monitoring, and real-time inspection through AI-driven vision systems.
The deployment enhances consistency, reduces inspection cycles, and supports the company’s move toward zero-defect manufacturing and autonomous factory operations.
Cold roll forming is increasingly seen as a strategic manufacturing advantage. Why is it becoming central to global OEM strategies?
Cold roll forming addresses multiple global manufacturing priorities simultaneously, including lightweighting, strength, scalability, and sustainability. Industry research indicates that demand for precision cold roll formed components is expected to grow strongly through the end of this decade, driven by the automotive, electric mobility, infrastructure, and renewable energy sectors.
From an engineering standpoint, cold roll forming enhances material strength and enables thinner sections without compromising performance. From a business perspective, it supports high-speed continuous production with micron-level repeatability, which is essential for global platforms operating at scale.
Global supply chains are being reshaped by geopolitical shifts. How is India positioned in this realignment?
Global supply chains are undergoing structural rebalancing as companies seek to reduce sourcing risk. India is well-positioned due to its engineering talent base, improving infrastructure, and stable institutional framework.
To become a preferred manufacturing destination, Indian companies must demonstrate predictability, compliance, and technological maturity. Rising domestic demand for precision components, particularly in electric mobility and renewable energy, combined with its export capabilities, presents India with a unique opportunity to strengthen its global manufacturing role.
Sustainability is now central to supplier selection. How is Mother India Forming addressing this?
Sustainability has evolved into a business-critical differentiator. Cold roll forming inherently supports lower energy consumption, higher material utilisation, and reduced scrap when compared to fabrication-intensive processes.
In parallel, we are expanding our captive solar power capacity to 5 MW, lowering our carbon footprint and strengthening energy resilience. This approach helps customers meet their sustainability objectives while reinforcing long-term competitiveness.
Cold Roll Forming: The Technology Driving Competitive Advantage
Cold roll forming lies at the core of Mother India Forming’s capabilities. Unlike fabrication-heavy methods, the process progressively shapes sheet metal at room temperature, producing long-length profiles with high dimensional stability and repeatability.
The process offers both technical and economic benefits. Higher material utilisation, lower energy consumption, and enhanced material strength allow manufacturers to reduce thickness while maintaining performance. As global demand for precision-formed components continues to grow, cold roll forming delivers predictability, scalability, and lifecycle cost efficiency for OEMs operating across regions.
Transforming Automotive and EV Manufacturing
The automotive and electric-vehicle sectors are undergoing a fundamental shift in design and production philosophies. Cold roll forming has emerged as a strategic enabler, supporting lightweight structures, safety-critical components, and high-volume production with consistent tolerances.
Mother India Forming’s integrated approach enables OEMs to replace complex welded assemblies with optimised roll formed solutions, reducing cost, weight, and production complexity while improving reliability.
Scale, Infrastructure, and Global Reach
Mother India Forming operates two advanced manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru, equipped with multiple roll-forming lines, CNC systems, robotic welding, and laser cutting. Supported by a skilled workforce, the company delivers both scale and precision.
Its customer base includes global OEMs such as CNH, Toyota, Kone Elevators, and MEVA, with exports to Europe, the UK, North America, and Southeast Asia.
India’s Manufacturing Growth Story
Mother India Forming’s evolution mirrors India’s broader industrial shift toward value-added, precision-led manufacturing. As engineering exports rise and demand grows across electric mobility and renewable energy, Indian manufacturers are increasingly competing on capability, reliability, and scale rather than cost alone.
Forming a Greener Future - 5 MW of Solar Power Soon
At Mother India Forming, sustainability is not just a word—it is a way of forming the future. Our commitment to responsible manufacturing is deeply embedded in every process, decision, and innovation we pursue. From installing rooftop solar panels to implementing robust water and energy conservation practices, and fostering an urban forest, we are dedicated to minimising our environmental footprint while maximising efficiency and long-term value.
A key pillar of our sustainability journey is cold-roll forming itself—a process that involves near zero scrap, reduces process energy, and enables products with significantly lower embedded carbon footprints. This reflects our belief that true sustainability begins at the design and manufacturing stage, not as an afterthought.
Reinforcing this commitment, Mother India Forming is expanding its solar energy capacity to 5 MW this year, further strengthening our transition to clean, renewable power. Guided by a journey of excellence and innovation, we continue to align growth with environmental responsibility—together forming a greener, more sustainable future for India.
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