BHEL sets up new Centralised Stamping Unit at Jagdishpur ; Sh. Rahul Gandhi, MP, dedicates the new plant to the Nation

As part of its manufacturing capacity expansion to 15,000 MW per annum, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has set up a new Centralised Stamping Unit (CSU) at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The new unit was dedicated today by Sh. Rahul Gandhi, Hon’ble Member of Parliament in the presence of Sh. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Hon’ble Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises. Sh. Arun Yadav, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries; Dr. Satyanarayana Dash, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry and Sh. K. Ravi Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL, were also present on the occasion, in addition to the Board of Directors and senior officials of BHEL and the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

In addition to the CSU, a new Fabrication Plant is also being set up at the same location in Jagdishpur. The foundation stone for both the units was also laid by Sh. Rahul Gandhi in December, 2007. Being set up by BHEL at a cumulative investment of Rs.3,670 Million, the units will boost economic activities in the area and open new employment opportunities.

In his address, Sh. Rahul Gandhi said that BHEL is an organisation that belongs to the people of India and such organisations can provide gainful employment opportunities and enable people to play an active role in the country’s progress. He stated that the Govt. has drawn up ambitious plans for adding additional 1,60,000 MW capacity to the power generating base in the country during the XIth and XIIth plans. Sh. Gandhi further said that having done a commendable job in ensuring self-sufficiency in the manufacture of power plant equipment in the country, BHEL is poised to take up the challenge and play a major role in meeting the energy demand of the country. He added that these new plants at Jagdishpur are expected to cater to both power and Industry sectors and will play a major role in meeting the energy demand of the country.

Saluting the foresight of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the visionary of modern India, for sowing the seeds of this organisation, Sh. Vilasrao Deshmukh expressed his happiness at BHEL’s progress in preparing itself to meet the future challenges in the power sector. He said that BHEL is a national treasure and with its technology tie-ups for supercritical Thermal sets up to 800 MW units and its ongoing capacity expansion, the company can meet the emerging requirements in the most competitive manner. Complimenting BHEL employees, Sh. Deshmukh said that we are proud of BHEL's achievements and its comprehensive capabilities in the entire gamut of the high technology area of power plant equipment manufacture. Proactive actions taken by the company will help it meet the emerging demand for power plant equipment in the country including that of Industrial requirements, he added.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Sh. K. Ravi Kumar, CMD, BHEL said that since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of setting up BHEL and the mandate to make the country Self Reliant in Power Plant Equipment manufacture, the company has grown in stature in both domestic and international markets and has brought many laurels to the country.

BHEL has already contributed over 88,000 MW to the installed power generating base in the country. In fact, 3 out of 4 homes in the country are powered by electricity generated from BHEL supplied equipment. To meet the growing demands of the power sector and the country's energy needs, the company has taken various capacity and capability building initiatives and is ready to meet all challenges posed by the power sector in the country.

The Centralised Stamping Unit is being set up to meet the increased requirement of stampings, a critical part of electrical machines, due to the growth in business and market demand for Generators and Electrical Motors. Presently, stampings are being manufactured in the Bhopal, Haridwar and Hyderabad units of BHEL with a total installed capacity of about 77 lakh stampings per annum. The demand for stampings is estimated to go up to 130 lakh per year by 2012, for which the centralised unit is being set up to get the benefit of economy of scale by setting up highly productive, state-of-the-art facilities.

The first phase of the CSU has been completed and production has commenced in the first quarter of the current fiscal (2009-10). The unit is slated to produce 56.9 lakh stampings during 2009-10 which will increase to 77 lakh stampings in 2010-11. The unit will reach its full capacity of 130 lakh stampings per annum by March, 2012.

The Fabrication Plant is being set up to meet the burgeoning requirement of fabricated components and assemblies required by BHEL’s major units at Bhopal, Haridwar, Hyderabad and Trichy, in view of the company’s capacity augmentation to 15,000 MW. Presently under construction, the plant will become operational in fiscal 2010-11 and will manufacture 25,000 Tones of fabricated and machined components per year for power plant equipment.

On completion, the units will generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 1,000 people, including through contract labor and outsourcing of services. In addition, the plants are expected to provide opportunities for development of ancillary industries and support services in the region.

BHEL already has an Insulator Plant (IP) at Jagdishpur, which was inaugurated in March 1984 by the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. The Unit was set up to meet the requirement of Insulators and support the country’s endeavour for meeting the challenges in power distribution and transmission.

BHEL has been committed to the nation’s power development programme and has reaffirmed its commitment to the Indian Power Sector by equipping itself for the future, by way of technology, facilities and trained manpower to meet the country’s power forecast for the 11th Plan and beyond. For this, it has already enhanced its manufacturing capacity to 10,000 MW per annum and is further augmenting it to 15,000 MW per annum which is proceeding apace and plans are afoot to hike it further to 20,000 MW by 2011-12.