The Hindu Business Line : BHEL targets Rs 45,000 cr turnover by 2011-12

Focus areas
Company’s order book position at over Rs 85,000 crore
Placing extra emphasis on project execution
Improving project delivery is area of priority

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept. 18 State-owned equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is targeting a turnover of Rs 45,000 crore by 2011-12, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr K. Ravi Kumar, said here.

In 2007-08, BHEL clocked over 14 per cent increase in turnover at Rs 21,401 crore, while net profit was up nearly 19 per cent at Rs 2,859 crore.

“BHEL is on its way to establish an annual manufacturing capacity of 15,000 MW by the end of the next calendar year. We have also decided to go for a 20,000-MW annual manufacturing capacity by December 2011,” Mr Ravi Kumar told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting.

With an order book position of over Rs 85,000 crore — the highest-ever both in physical as well as financial terms — at the close of the last fiscal, the company expects to achieve robust growth in 2008-09 and beyond, he said.

Areas of investment

Besides capacity augmentation of existing products, other major areas of investment include setting up of facilities for manufacturing higher rating nuclear sets, hi-end transformers and other associated transmission equipment. Attention is also being given to rebuild and retrofit existing facilities to enhance their life, accuracy and productivity through additional investment, said Mr Ravi Kumar.

On the partnership front, he said BHEL continued to build strategic relationships to enhance its presence and find opportunities in the market. The company entered into an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board for forming a joint venture to set up a 2x800 MW Supercritical Thermal Power Project in the State.

An MoU was signed with State-owned trading firm MMTC for enhancing export of power plant equipment and projects leveraging counter trade and bulk buying. An MoU was also signed with power major NTPC Ltd to form a joint venture for executing EPC projects and power equipment manufacturing, he added.

Priority area

He informed shareholders that improving project delivery is a priority area and BHEL is placing extra emphasis on project execution. A better project monitoring system using ‘Primavera’ has been put in place.

He said that BHEL is not alone in identifying the bottlenecks prevalent in project execution and that there is also a concerted effort by the Government as well as various utilities in finding solutions.