The Hindu Business Line : BHEL ties up with Toshiba

Chennai May 15 Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd recently signed a MoU with Toshiba of Japan for know-how in higher horsepower locomotives. Confirming this to Business Line, Mr A.K. Mathur, Director (Industrial Systems and Production), said that the MoU provided for a "full road map" in producing high HP locomotives from design to producing a prototype and putting it on trial with the Indian Railways.

Three out of every four engines of Indian Railways are of BHEL make. BHEL can produce locomotives up to 6,000 hp, but now it wants to get into 10,000-hp range, sensing demand from customers.

Railways is keen to move more freight and is therefore interested in buying larger capacity wagons as well as increasing the number of wagons in a freight train. Both of these call for higher hauling power. With companies like Siemens gaining ground, BHEL is keen to protect its turf. The tie-up with Toshiba is one of the steps towards that objective.

More tie-ups

Locomotives are only one of the areas in Railways that BHEL wants to gear itself up for more business. In the next 15 days, at least three more technical tie-ups are likely to happen. One is for converting the control systems in existing locomotives. The other two are for upgrading control systems in electric motive units and diesel electric motive units (EMUs and DEMUs).

BHEL supplies about Rs 600 crore worth of traction motors and control systems to the Railways. Railways has not bought a locomotive in the recent past, but BHEL is close to being awarded a Rs 1,000-crore order for the supply of 150 locomotives. This order is to be executed over a three-year period.

Thus, from the current year, BHEL's railway business is likely to be about Rs 1,000 crore. But that is before the new businesses kick-in, which could take a couple of years, given the strict validation procedures. "The sky is the limit," Mr Mathur said, when asked of business potential from Railways.