Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with Toshiba to form a joint venture company that will roll out high-capacity power transmission equipment India’s premier power equipment company Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company with its Japanese counterpart Toshiba for manufacturing and distributing high-capacity power transmission equipment. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this context has been signed recently between BHEL CMD B P Rao and Hideo Kitamura, executive vice president of Toshiba. The details and the formalities of the JV would be completed by end of June 2010.
The JV company will undertake marketing, engineering, testing and commissioning of equipment in extra high voltage alternating current (EHVAC) and ultra high voltage alternating current (UHVAC) segments, which include gas insulated switchgear (GIS), reactors and 765 kilovolt (kV) transformers.
 JV to bridge demand-supply gapIn this context, Vikram Chabra, proprietor of Premier Power Equipments, a mid-sized power equipment dealer in New Delhi says, “With the expansion of economic activities, the demand for power equipment will rise in the coming years. With mega power projects undertaken in various parts of the country, there is an urgent need to roll out high quality power equipment. We expect the JV company to meet this demand.”
It is to be noted that in order to transfer power from the north eastern and eastern region of the country to the northern region, high-capacity transmission highways, consisting of 400 kV and 765 kV transmission lines, will soon be set up. Industry players are of the opinion that the proposed JV company, with its exclusive range of products, will help in smooth commissioning of these projects.
“With the JV company rolling out high-capacity transmission power equipment in the country, we expect the dependence on power equipment procured from foreign countries to come down,” says Parag Limaye, managing director of Clean Power Equipments, a small-sized power equipment dealer in Pune. Meanwhile, BHEL is expecting the JV company to generate business worth Rs 1,000 crore in the initial phase. Arup Choudhury |
