BHEL suspends work at Ennore plant

In what could dent the business of power generation equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), the company has been forced to suspend installation of equipment at the 1,320 MW Ennore thermal power station in Tamil Nadu following an order by a division bench of Madras High Court that cancelled the company’s contract, estimated to be worth R9,000 crore, on the ground that the PSU may not have been the lowest bidder. The contract was awarded to BHEL by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) in September last year. The high court, in its judgment delivered earlier this week, instructed Tangedco to re-evaluate the bids and pass detailed orders with reasons. “All units/division are requested to put all supplies/erection/civil activities on hold for 2X660 MW Ennore SEZ TPS with immediate effect in the interest of BHEL till further intimation,” an internal communication of the company issued by the the general manager of power sector marketing A.K Garg said. The notice added that the action plan will be finalised on receipt of the judgment, in consultation with the legal team and Tangedco. more at : http://www.financialexpress.com/article/companies/bhel-suspends-work-at-ennore-plant/134495/

HC sets aside power project contract awarded to BHEL

The Madras High Court on Monday quashed proceedings issued by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) on September 27, 2014 for awarding contract to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited to set up two units of 660 MW Supercritical Thermal Power Project at Ennore Special Economic Zone. Allows plea Allowing a writ appeal filed by CSEPDI-TRISHE Consortium, an Indo-Chinese private venture, a Division Bench of Justices R. Sudhakar and K.B.K. Vasuki reversed an order passed by a single judge on April 7 upholding the grant of the contract to BHEL. The judgment, reserved in Chennai, was delivered here as Mr. Justice Sudhakar is at present heading the High Court Bench here. The Division Bench directed Tangedco to reconsider the bids submitted by BHEL as well as the appellant consortium since there was a huge difference between rates quoted by them. But, the single judge had rejected this ground raised by the consortium, stating: “If the case on hand is examined by experts in the field of finance and banking, they may probably agree with the petitioner.” As for the consortium’s allegation that BHEL had the dubious distinction of delaying power projects was concerned, the judge said: “If the statistics furnished by BHEL are more or less correct, it has put up at least 50 per cent of power projects that have come up in the country. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/hc-sets-aside-power-project-contract-awarded-to-bhel/article7626364.ece

Ancillary units accuse BHEL of encouraging ‘non-serious players’

Ancillary units of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) have begun to feel the heat of “unviable and unrealistic” tender conditions and rates offered by the public sector unit to its vendors. There are reports that some of the units, which found it difficult to stay float because of new policy conditions and rock bottom rates, have drastically scaled down their operations in Tiruchi. Claiming that “new unrealistic conditions” have started wiping out the ancillary units, members of BHEL Small and Medium Industries Association (BHELSIA) suspended operations for a day on Thursday and came together to take out a rally, urging the BHEL to restore the old tender process and conditions. A large number of protesters, including owners of ancillary units and their employees, took part in a silent rally from Tiruverumbur to Ganesa Arch. They carried placards and banners, highlighting the survival issues faced by the units. A group of representatives later presented a memorandum to S. Gopinath, Executive Director, BHEL. “The rates given by BHEL for vendors are at rock bottom. It is unfortunate that the BHEL has finalised tenders with non-serious contenders. They cannot meet the requirements. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/ancillary-units-accuse-bhel-of-encouraging-nonserious-players/article7640336.ece

BHEL reaches out to govt. schools

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Ranipet has reached out to government schools through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. 7 projects inaugurated BHEL Ranipet has undertaken seven projects costing Rs. 45.65 lakh under CSR in the financial year 2014-15. All the seven projects have been completed and inaugurated. Of the seven projects, five worth Rs. 29.99 lakh was completed and inaugurated on August 6. The remaining two projects worth Rs. 15.56 lakh was inaugurated by BHEL Ranipet’s Executive Director K. Mysaiah on Monday. Facilities at school While a computer lab was constructed for Government Higher Secondary School, Kodaikal village at a cost of Rs. 11.34 lakh, modification of compound wall was also taken up at the school at Rs. 4.32 lakh. The five projects that were completed earlier were - separate toilets for girls and boys for government higher secondary schools at Rendadi village (Rs. 4.89 lakh) and Guruvarajapet village (Rs. 6.79 lakh), construction of water sump, barbed wire fencing and provision of cupboards to Government Girls HSS, Arakkonam (Rs. 3.23 lakh), construction of compound wall for Government Girls HSS, Walaja (Rs. 7.45 lakh) and RCC roof for nursery class at SRK-BHEL HSS (Rs. 7.63 lakh). Apart from these seven projects, Rs. 81.76 lakh has been spent under CSR for running BHEL-Sri Ramakrishna HSS located in BHEL Township during 2014-15. For less-privileged More than 98 per cent students of this school belonged to non-BHEL category and came from under privileged section of society living around BHEL factory and township, according to a press release. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/bhel-reaches-out-to-govt-schools/article7631974.ece

HC sets aside power project awarded to BHEL

The Madras High Court on Monday quashed proceedings issued by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) on September 27, 2014 for awarding contract for setting up two units of 660 MW Supercritical Thermal Power Project at Ennore Special Economic Zone in Chennai to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Allowing a writ appeal filed by CSEPDI-TRISHE Consortium, an Indo-Chinese private venture, a Division Bench of Justices R. Sudhakar and K.B.K. Vasuki reversed an order passed by a single judge on April 7 upholding the grant of the contract to BHEL. The judgment, reserved in Chennai, was delivered here as Mr. Justice Sudhakar is at present heading the High Court Bench here. The Division Bench directed Tangedco to reconsider the bids submitted by BHEL as well as the appellant consortium since there was a huge difference between rates quoted by them. But, the single judge had rejected this ground raised by the consortium, stating: “If the case on hand is examined by experts in the field of finance and banking, they may probably agree with the petitioner.” “However, what lies within the realm of experts, is an area where courts, like angels, fear to tread. A court, in matters of this nature, is concerned only with the legal soundness and not the financial soundness of the ultimate decision. If I have understood the defence of Tangedco correctly, it appears that they fear hidden costs in the proposal of the petitioner.” “Today, the fear of hidden costs cannot be easily dispelled especially in the insurance and banking sectors.” As for the consortium’s allegation that BHEL had the dubious distinction of delaying power projects was concerned, the judge said: “If the statistics furnished by BHEL are more or less correct, it has put up at least 50 per cent of power projects in the country. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/hc-sets-aside-power-project-awarded-to-bhel/article7627334.ece

BHEL boiler plant wins energy management award

The High Pressure Boiler Plant (HPBP) of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Tiruchi, has won the national Energy Management Award of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the “Energy Efficient Unit” in the Engineering and Manufacturing category. A team of engineers from HPBP had won the award for the most Innovative Project for Excellence in Energy Management out of 127 projects presented by public and private sector companies, according to a BHEL press release. The award winning project on “Arc type LPG burner for preheating of boiler components under manufacture” was presented by D. Santhakumar, Senior Engineer, S. Vasugi, Engineer and R. Muhammad Ehsan, Engineer of the Maintenance and Services Department of BHEL, Tiruchi. The award consisted of citation and certificates for the engineers. The awards were presented by Ajay Mathur, Chairman, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), at the 16{+t}{+h}national awards competition for excellence in energy management held in Hyderabad on September 2 and 3, the release added. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/bhel-boiler-plant-wins-energy-management-award/article7620883.ece

Atul Sobti to be BHEL’s next CMD

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Tuesday said Atul Sobti will be its next chairman and managing director and will take charge on or after 1January. “The government has approved the appointment of Atul Sobti, director (power), BHEL, as CMD, BHEL for a period of five years w.e.f. the date of his assumption of charge of the post on or after 1 January 2016, or till the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest,” the company said in a regulatory filing. Ref: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/benr7Yvo96rGb1vZgecnjL/Atul-Sobti-to-be-BHELs-next-CMD.html