BHEL pushing for joint ventures in forging

Upbeat on the future prospects of the power industry and a bugling order book in its kitty, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) on Friday indicated that it was actively exploring the possibility of picking up equity in domestic casting and forging ventures or buy them from the East European market to enhance its manufacturing capacity.

The company has set a target to enhance its capacity to 20,000 MW by 2012 to meet the increasing orders from domestic and international customers. The company, which is looking aggressively for a technology partner in Europe, is also planning to speed up manufacturing through its forging joint venture with U.K.-based Sheffield.

“We are looking at three possibilities — jacking up our forging manufacturing capacity with Sheffield, sourcing from the East European countries for our short-term requirement or take equity in joint ventures for casting and forging,” BHEL Chairman and Managing Director K. Ravi Kumar told reporters here.

BHEL has tied-up with U.K.-based Sheffield (Forgemasters) on a technology transfer basis for manufacturing forging.

ref:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/25/stories/2009042551601600.htm