Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises reviews power projects under execution by BHEL in Maharashtra; Move aimed at expediting commissioning in view of critical power situation in the state

Recently, H’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sh. Vilasrao Deshmukh appraised H’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in a meeting and through a letter about the energy deficit in Maharashtra. Consequently, a follow-up visit was undertaken by Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev, H’ble Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises along with Sh. Dilip Walse Patil, H’ble Misiter of Energy, Govt. of Maharashtra, for taking steps to improve and expedite completion of power projects in Maharashtra.

In view of the critical power situation in the state of Maharashtra, the H’ble Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Govt. of India, Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev reviewed the status of the various ongoing projects being executed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in the state, along with the H’ble Minister of Energy, Govt. of Maharashtra, Sh. Dilip Walse Patil. Senior officials from the Ministry of Heavy Industry; BHEL; Govt. of Maharashtra and Mahagenco were also present at the review meeting in Mumbai.

Sh. Patil requested the H’ble Minister for HI&PE to advise BHEL to expedite the commissioning of the projects under execution and also to advance the commissioning of the 1x500 MW Khaperkheda project. Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev advised BHEL to take necessary steps to commission the projects on priority. During the meeting, CMD, BHEL assured the Govt. of Maharashtra that BHEL will make all out efforts to commission the projects on top priority and will also reduce the commissioning schedule of the Khaperkheda project by two months. Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev also advised Mahagenco and BHEL to work together to compress the schedule for completion of the projects.

In the meeting, BHEL also made a presentation showcasing its preparedness to manufacture and supply thermal power equipment with supercritical parameters for the next higher rating 800 MW sets and above.

Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev along with Sh. Dilip Walse Patil; CMD and Directors of BHEL and Shri Ajoy Mehta, MD, Mahagenco, besides senior officials from the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Govt. of Maharashtra visited the Paras thermal power project site. At this site, two units of 250 MW are under execution by BHEL. Sh. Patil expressed that both BHEL and Mahagenco should work hand-in-hand to ensure that the respective work of either side should be completed to ensure commissioning of the unit by August 2007. During the visit, the H’ble Minister also advised other contractors of BHEL and Mahagenco to ensure timely completion of their activities to achieve the commissioning schedule.

Sh. Sontosh Mohan Dev visited various areas in the power plant including the Mill area where work is on in full swing. The H’ble Minister for HI&PE appreciated the work being done both by BHEL and Mahagenco and advised them to commission the project at the earliest.

BHEL has so far commissioned around 7,500 MW of thermal sets in the state, which constitute around 90% of the total installed thermal capacity of Maharashtra. In addition, during 2006-07, the company also re-commissioned the 740 MW Ratnagiri Block II (Dabhol), which had been inoperative since the last six years.

Presently, BHEL is in the process of enhancing its manufacturing capacity from 6,000 MW to 10,000 MW per annum at a cost of Rs.12,000 Million and the enhanced capacity of 10,000 MW will be available by the end of 2007.

Aimed at equipping itself to meet the country's power capacity addition targets in the 11th plan and beyond, BHEL is enhancing its manufacturing capacity in the next three years by a massive 250% from the current level of 6,000 MW to 15,000 MW per annum with a total investment of around Rs.32,000 Million.

Also, in order to meet the surge in demand and manufacturing load, critical machines are being operated round the clock for all 24 hours on three shift operations. During the year 2006-07, BHEL manufactured and supplied nearly 7,000 MW of power plant equipment, which is much beyond its available capacity of 6,000 MW per annum, as a result of these measures.