BHEL to invest Rs 3,200 crore on expansion drive

New Delhi, May 14: To meet the government's target of providing 'Power to all by 2012', Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) will invest Rs 3,200 crore to enhance its manufacturing capacity by a massive 250 per cent from 6,000 MW to 15,000 MW per annum by the XIth Plan.

At present, BHEL is in the process of enhancing its manufacturing capacity from 6,000 MW to 10,000 MW per annum at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore and the enhanced capacity of 10,000 MW will be available by this year-end, a company spokesman said today.

The enhanced manufacturing capacity, together with state-of-the-art technology to produce higher rating super-critical thermal sets and a skilled workforce, is expected to further strengthen the position of the company in the domestic market.

The installed power capacity base in the country is expected to witness an addition of about 1,50,000 MW during the XIth and XIIth Plans.

The manufacturing capacity of 10,000 MW is intended to meet the present indications of the likely power capacity addition target of the XIth Plan with the increased capacity of 15,000 MW taking care of the latter half of the Plan.

The focus of the initiative is on addition of facilities for various products in its manufacturing units and for construction tools and equipment for erection and commissioning services at project sites.

Aimed at meeting customer commitments and enhanced market demand, the programme will also look at replacement of ageing facilities for improving product quality, reducing cost and cycle time and enhancing productivity, besides modernising and upgrading equipment at various power plant sites for meeting enhanced erection load and shorter commissioning schedules.

The programme envisages brownfield expansion, adding mainly work centre capacities. Compared to setting up of greenfield facilities, brownfield expansion can be undertaken at a fraction of the cost as also in much less time.

BHEL has large internal accruals, in addition to its capacity to raise resources from the market, and can fully meet the resource requirements on its own, the spokesman added.

UNI