BHEL posts record turnover of Rs 5,606 crore

Tiruchirapalli, Apr 4 (UNI) The Tiruchirapalli unit of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) achieved a record turnover of Rs 5,606 crore during fiscal 2007-08 with an all-time high Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs 1,496 crore.

Announcing this at a press conference here today, Company Executive Director R N Misra said this was the best in its 43-year-old history, while attributing the increase in the profit largely to massive company-wide measures to optimise product designs and increase productivity.

Mr Misra said that with the highest-ever inflow of orders worth Rs 10,200 crore during the year, the order book stood at Rs 17,400 crore as on March 31, 2008.

To a question, he said the current year turnover target was Rs 7,202 crore. As much as 77 per cent of the orders from the power sector were secured through International Competitive Bidding (ICB) route and 62 per cent of the orders were from the existing customers.

The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board, which earlier placed orders for three 500 MW capacity boilers with a Chinese firm, had now diverted the same order to BHEL Tiruchirapalli.

On the 11th Plan projects, Mr Misra said the company had completed the first phase of the biggest-ever capacity augmentation scheme for the Boiler Plant and would complete the second phase by March 2009 by raising the capacity augmentation in line with an overall capacity of 15,000 MW for the BHEL Corporation.

Sixtythree new types of high productive machines had been sourced worldwide in the first-phase of expansion and 75 more would be installed in the second phase.

On the export front, BHEL Tiruchirapalli had secured an order for 2x135 MW environment-friendly circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion (FBC) boilers from Koniambo Nickel in the South Pacific island of New Caledonia. Export orders for soot-blowers from New Zealand and the UAE had also been received in addition to orders for oilfield equipment from the Middle East.

A proposal for setting up 120 MW IGCC Power Plant had also been submitted to APGENCO, Mr Misra said, adding the total workforce of the company would be increased by approximately 2,350 over the next two to three years.

Responding to an another question, he said 150 ancillary units, for undertaking fabrication works, would be added to the existing 336 units during the current year.

UNI RV SJ 1652