'BHEL unit modernisation proposal with HQ'

Tiruchirapalli, Apr 4: The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) here has sent a proposal to the BHEL Corporate Office for modernisation of Tiruchirapalli unit to augment its installed capacity to 10,000 MW from the existing 4,000 MW by the year 2009, a top official today said.

Addressing the press here, BHEL Tiruchirapalli Group General Manager R N Misra said currently they were implementing a Rs 190 crore capacity augmentation scheme (Phase one) to increase the plant's capacity from the present 4,000 MW to 5750 MW (equivalent), which would be completed by October 2007.

Under Phase one, they had ordered for modern equipment and the civil works were in progress. Similar investment projects to modernise the manufacturing facilities of Advanced Technology Products were also on the anvil, he added.

He said the BHEL here had achieved an all time-high turnover of Rs 4,575 crore for the year ending March 31, 2007 registering a 30 per cent growth over last year.

The company earned profits for the 38th year in a row and the Rs 804 crore profit this year represented an 103 per cent increase over last year.

The order position jumped 125 per cent with Rs 7,700 crore worth orders received during the year. The total order outstanding as of now was put up at Rs 11,650 crore, the highest ever in BHEL history.

The major orders received in the year included 12 units of 500 MW capacity power plants and boilers.

The unit bagged record number of renovation and modernisation orders worth Rs 439 crore and in spares, it stood at more than Rs 410 crore. He said the company had developed in-house the design and engineering for sub-critical 600 MW capacity boilers and auxiliaries and was to participate in the forthcoming tender bids for higher capacity power plant equipment orders.

BHEL had submitted its tender bids for two numbers of Ultra Mega 2 X 800 MW power plant put up by APGENCO at Krishnapatnam.

Similarly, for the power plant expansion project at Barh in Bihar mooted by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), BHEL will be the main claimant for the 2 X 660 MW power plant.

During the year of reference, BHEL commissioned 7863 MW of power plant equipment comprising 4791 MW utility and captive /industrial sets in the country and 1332 MW on overseas markets.

BHEL added 1,740 MW to the national grid by erecting and commissioning non-BHEL sets including part supplies.

With this, the installed capacity of BHEL utility sets went up to 80,783 MW and BHEL maintained its share of 65 per cent in the country's total installed capacity of 1,25,414 MW, added Mr Misra.

UNI