The Hindu Business Line : BHEL to expand Haridwar plant by 2011 in phases

Mumbai, Nov. 29 Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, leading power equipment manufacturer, plans to expand its Haridwar plant capacity to 13,020 MW by 2011. The capital expenditure would be Rs 1,500 crore, which would be funded through internal accruals.

The plant makes turbines and generators, for nuclear and thermal power stations.

The capacity expansion would be carried out in two phases. In the first phase the capacity would be ramped up to 10,020 MW by December 2009 from the current capacity of 5,750 MW. In second phase it would be further expanded to 13,020 MW by December 2011.

Mr D.K. Mody, Executive Director of BHEL, told Business Line that for the first phase of expansion, orders have been placed for machine tools and civil work is under way for a new turbine and generator block. The plant has adequate land for expansion. By December 2009, when the first phase is completed, BHEL will have a total capacity of 15,000 MW and by 2011 20,000 MW.

“For the second phase of expansion our planning is underway for additional machine tools. We are also looking at outsourcing of work in non-core areas. Our attempt is to deploy machine tools and manpower optimally,” Mr Mody said.

Meeting demand

He said in order to de-congest the capacity at the plant, measures such as Advance Manufacturing Actions (AMA) are being taken, especially for critical casting and forging jobs.

Given the heavy work load forging companies are only taking orders for 2011, BHEL has initiated AMA whereby it can place order for casting and forging of components without firm orders in hand, Mr Mody said.

He said that for AMA the company has taken board’s approval for 50 projects. About Rs 800 crore has been deployed under AMA, keeping in mind the demand of power equipments from the market. Earlier, AMA was undertaken on small scale but this year, given the demand, it is being done on a large scale, Mr Mody said.

He said manpower at Haridwar plant is 6,000 and that 500 skilled workers and 100 engineers are being recruited this year. To cope with order book all assembly lines and critical machines are working 24x7.

Related Stories:
BHEL-NTPC joint venture to firm up biz plan

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Leyland re-brands design, engineering services unit

BHEL to expand Haridwar plant by 2011 in phases

CUMI to set up fusion plant in Russia

Corporates may tighten norms to screen employees

Terror attacks: Corporate houses to rethink on security

Agri Gold enters chemical fertiliser biz

Cairn to start seismic work in Ravva fields

Volvo-Eicher plans mining application products