Bhel to cut delivery lag, increase capacity

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), India’s biggest power-equipment maker, plans to tighten delivery schedules and increase capacity as the government gears up to reduce the nation’s electricity deficiency.

“We have to scale up nearly two-and-a-half times,” chairman and managing director B. Prasada Rao said on Friday in New Delhi. “We need to get into an orbit of delivering 15,000MW of capacity each year.”

Bhel expects a rush of orders as Indian utilities prepare to almost double the country’s generation capacity in the next seven years from the current 152,148MW. The company is spending Rs1,590 crore to expand capacity to produce equipment capable of generating 20,000MW by March 2012, according to a statement on 17 September.

Orders worth Rs20,000 crore have been received for the financial year started 1 April, taking total contracts in hand to Rs1.25 trillion, Rao said. Bhel expects to form a venture to make power transmission equipment in the next three months, he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pledged to spend Rs56,960 crore to add power plants and transmission lines in the year to 31 March. The government plans to add 78,700MW of generation capacity in the country in the five years to March 2012 and 100,000MW in the following five years.

India, the world’s second fastest growing major economy, faces a peak-hour power shortage of 12.6% this year, according to the Central Electricity Authority.


ref:
http://www.livemint.com/2009/10/09230531/Bhel-to-cut-delivery-lag-incr.html