BHEL to foray into defence manufacturing sector

Public sector power equipment maker BHEL is stepping up itsforay into the defence manufacturing sector, which has been thrown open as partof the 'Make in India' campaign and is looking for hi-tech original equipmentmanufacturers (OEMs) for partnership.

"The 'Make in India' initiative in the defence sector is opening up largeopportunities in naval, field guns and submarine segments and BHEL is activelypursuing these opportunities by partnering with global OEMs," BHELchairman and managing director B. Prasada Rao said at the 51st annual generalmeeting held here.

Over the years, the company has made significant contributions to naval gunsand Integrated Platform Management System. Briefing shareholders over theoverall performance of the company, Rao said that in spite of 2014-15 being anextremely challenging financial year, BHEL secured orders worth Rs 30,814crore, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year, in intenselycompetitive domestic and overseas markets.

Despite severe market shrinkage and stiff competition in the power sector, BHELmaintained its leadership position with a market share of 72 per cent for thesecond consecutive year. By expanding its offerings, the company secured 89 percent of its total orders in the power sector on engineering, procurement andconstruction basis. At the end of the year, total orders in hand for executionin 2015-16 and beyond stand at Rs 1,01,018 crore, Rao said.

For the third time in a row, BHEL synchronised or commissioned power projectsof more than 10,000 MW in a single year. Power projects totalling 11,941 MWwere commissioned during the year, inclusive of 10,230 MW utility sets, 1,392MW captive sets or industrial sets in the country and 319 MW in overseasmarkets. Rao also said that 2014-15 saw the highest power capacity addition inthe country. However, the generation sector is still to come out from thestressful conditions which have adversely affected the power sector developmentfor past three to four years.

(In association with Mail Today)