Rane (Madras) Ltd is a safety-and-critical auto-components house built on a simple, durable idea: make the parts that keep a vehicle in control and bring it to a stop, regardless of what powers the engine. It was born from a distribution business founded in 1929 and became a manufacturer in 1959, and its defining move has been to consolidate what were once three separate listed group companies - steering, brakes and engine valves - into a single, diversified entity in 2025. The recurring approach is to dominate a niche in India, then use that base to supply global vehicle platforms, while ensuring over 92% of group revenue comes from products that work on both combustion and electric powertrains.
Business segments
Five engines at different stages - a hydrocarbon cash cow, two consumer platforms at national scale, and a green-energy bet under construction - each built with the cash flows of the one before.
1. Steering and Linkages: the mechanical backbone of vehicle control
The market leader in India for steering gears and linkages, now exporting that dominance globally through a dedicated Mexican plant that sidesteps tariffs.
- Market leader in India - it designs and makes manual steering gears, suspension components, steering linkages and hydraulic products for passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, farm tractors and off-highway machines, and holds the top position in steering gear and linkage products in the country.
- A global niche in all-terrain steering - the company is a worldwide leader in mechanical steering for All-Terrain Vehicles, a specialised corner where it has built deep expertise.
- Bypassing tariffs with a Mexican base - a greenfield factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico, was set up to exploit customs-duty benefits under the USMCA trade agreement, and its first order supplies ball joints for an electric-vehicle platform of a leading American OEM, with a peak annual value of INR 80 crore.
- Expanding into powered steering - the product range now includes gear pumps and Electric Power Steering for tractors and light commercial vehicles, moving beyond manual systems into higher-value electrified steering.
- Orders booked for the next cycle - in FY25 alone, the business won new orders worth over ₹500 crore for products like rack-and-pinion and ball joints, locking in future production.
2. Brake Components: the friction business that stops everything from cars to trains
A market leader in passenger-vehicle friction materials, now doubling down with an acquisition that will create a ₹1,000-crore-plus combined entity.
- Friction for every vehicle type - the business makes brake linings, disc pads, clutch facings and sintered brake pads, and also supplies composite brake blocks for railways, with a product library of widely tested formulations.
- Aftermarket is half the story - 40% of sales came from the replacement market, giving the business a steady, less-cyclical revenue stream alongside its original-equipment supply.
- Bought, not just built - in June 2026, the company agreed to acquire the friction business of Hindustan Composites Ltd, including the “COMPO” brand and two Maharashtra plants, for ₹370 crore on a cash-free, debt-free basis, which will lift the combined friction revenue above ₹1,000 crore and make RML the market leader across all major segments.
- Technical know-how from Japan and Europe - it has long-standing collaborations with Nisshinbo Brakes and TMD Friction, and runs a full-scale inertia dynamometer and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) study rig in its R&D centre.
3. Engine Components: the valve train that thrives outside the car
An engine-valve maker that has deliberately tilted its mix toward power generation, marine, defence and locomotives - segments where electrification barely reaches.
- Valves and tappets for combustion engines - the business manufactures engine valves, valve guides and mechanical tappets.
- Insulated from the EV shift - 41% of its revenue comes from non-automotive applications such as power generation, marine, defence and locomotives, which are largely unaffected by the move to electric vehicles.
- Non-auto customers are a quarter of the book - in one recent quarter, non-automotive customers accounted for 27.5% of revenue, showing the deliberate diversification away from passenger cars.
- Quality recognised by the toughest buyers - the Trichy plant won a Best Kaizen award from Toyota Industries Engine India, and the business received a Zero PPM (parts per million) award from Daimler India Commercial Vehicles.
4. Aftermarket Products: a unified distribution engine for the entire group
Three separate aftermarket channels were merged into one national platform that now sells steering, brake, engine and fluid products under a single roof.
- One brand, one channel - the aftermarket operations of the steering, brake and engine businesses were previously run through separate teams and distribution networks; the amalgamation integrated them into a single entity selling a combined portfolio.
- Commercial vehicles drive the bulk - 55% of aftermarket sales come from commercial-vehicle parts, with passenger vehicles at 36%, reflecting the heavy-duty replacement cycle of trucks and buses.
- A national footprint weighted to the South - sales are spread across India, with the South contributing 39%, the North 26%, the West 22% and the East 11%, giving broad geographic reach.
- Fighting Chinese imports with quality - the business faces competition from cheaper Chinese products in the aftermarket, and its response has been to widen the product range and run “Mega Meets” with retailers and mechanics to build loyalty.
5. Light Metal Castings: the aluminium foundry feeding the group and beyond
A high-pressure die-casting operation that makes the lightweight housings and cases the rest of the group needs, while also supplying external customers in India, North America and Europe.
- Aluminium housings for steering and engines - the business casts and machines parts such as hydraulic pinion housings, pump housings, engine oil sumps, gear cases and transmission housings, many of which feed directly into the group’s own steering and engine products.
- Relevant even when engines go electric - the division’s products, such as housings for electric power steering and transmission cases, remain needed in electric vehicles, so the shift in powertrain does not strand its assets.
- The US experiment was cut - a Kentucky subsidiary, Rane Light Metal Castings Inc., was sold in September 2023 for USD 4.9 million after years of accumulated losses totalling nearly USD 40 million, caused by poor order offtake and a post-COVID slowdown in the American auto industry.
Group structure and partners
Rane (Madras) Ltd sits under a holding company, co-owned by a Japanese industrial group, and accesses cutting-edge technology through joint ventures with ZF and NSK.
- Parent and Japanese co-promoter - Rane Holdings Limited owns 63.80% of the company, and Nisshinbo Holding Inc. of Japan holds 6.06% as a promoter, a relationship that also brings technical collaboration in brake friction materials.
- Mexican subsidiary for North American access - a wholly owned Dutch holding company, RMIH, in turn owns Rane Automotive Components Mexico, the greenfield steering-components plant being set up in Aguascalientes that is expected to serve customers under USMCA trade terms.
- Joint ventures with global tier-1s - the wider Rane Group has two key joint ventures: ZF Rane Automotive India, which makes hydraulic power steering systems and occupant-safety equipment including airbags and seatbelts, and Rane NSK Steering Systems, which makes electric power steering systems and steering columns across four Indian plants.
- Technology licences from Germany and Japan - beyond the joint ventures, the group holds technology collaborations with ZF for steering and safety, NSK for steering columns and electric power steering, and Nisshinbo and TMD Friction for brake products.
- The US casting subsidiary is gone - the former step-down subsidiary Rane Light Metal Castings Inc. in Kentucky was divested in September 2023 for USD 4.9 million, closing a chapter of persistent losses.