To verify an engineering supplier in India, check three things separately: that the company legally exists, that it owns a real factory, and that it has built the machine you want. A fake machinery exporter usually fails on one of these, and machinery supplier verification is cheap compared with a lost advance payment.
Treat every claim in a brochure as unproven until you have seen a document or a machine that supports it.
Check that the company exists
Ask for the company's registration number, tax registration (GSTIN) and Importer-Exporter Code. Each can be looked up on public Indian government portals, and the registered name and address should match your quote and bank details.
Check that the bank account is in the company's name. A request to pay a different name, a personal account or a third country is the strongest warning sign there is.
Check that it owns a factory
A real manufacturer can show a plant: machines, workers, work in progress and a quality area. Ask for a live video tour in which you choose what to see, and then arrange an on-site visit or audit. What a factory audit report should contain lists what to record.
Compare the address on the registration with the address where the plant stands. Many traders sit in an office in one city and subcontract to workshops elsewhere. That is not always a problem, but it must be disclosed. See how to tell a trader from a manufacturer and how to tell a machinery dealer from a manufacturer.
Check that it has built this machine
Ask for references from export customers who bought the same type of machine, and contact them yourself. Ask what went wrong as well as what went right.
Ask to see the machine under test and the same model in production, and ask how many units of that model the plant has delivered in the past two years. A supplier who has never built it will struggle to show a photo with a serial number, a test record and a drawing of the exact version.
Signs of a fake or risky exporter
These patterns appear again and again in fraud and in poor suppliers.
- A very low quote, with pressure to pay a large advance quickly.
- Photos that appear on other companies' websites, or a catalogue that covers unrelated machines.
- Refusal of a factory visit, a video call or a third-party inspection.
- A free email address, no company domain and no landline.
- Bank details that change between the quote and the invoice.
Use a third party and a safe payment structure
An independent audit by an agent or inspector working for you replaces guesswork with evidence. Pay in stages that follow progress, and keep a balance until the machine has passed its test. Never pay into an account that differs from the registered company name, and confirm any change of bank details by calling a number you found yourself, not one printed on the new invoice. The red flags when choosing a sourcing agent applies the same logic to agents.
Next step
We find and audit manufacturers and check their documents on site, working only for you. Book a free sourcing review and send us the supplier you are considering.