Danfes

AT the time of India’s independence, the country was woefully short of the basic ingredient for economic development - Power. For a country with a population of 360 million in 1947, total power generation was a meagre 1347 MW. The vital need for correcting this aberration led to the setting up of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in the late 1950s. Its mandate was to make the country self-sufficient in the indigenous manufacture of power equipment.

Compared to the global power equipment industry, which was already more than half a century old then; India’s technological capability was at a low level and experts doubted the wisdom of setting up this sophisticated industry which was considered a highly ambitious objective that the country had
set for itself.

Today, BHEL sets generate 76% of the total power generated in the country although accounting for 64% of India’s total installed generating capacity of over 1,11,000 MW. In real terms, that translates into approximately three out of every four homes in India being lit up with power generated by BHEL sets ! Indeed, BHEL has not only lived up to its original mandate but far surpassed its original expectations.

BHEL has become an icon of an incredible success story, from its humble inception to becoming the largest engineering enterprise of its kind in the country and one of the foremost companies in the International power arena.

BHEL is today, a multi-product company offering over 180 highly sophisticated engineering products under one umbrella. While the core competence of BHEL is in the power sector, it has progressively established the technological infrastructure to cater to core sectors like; Industry, Transportation (including railways), Transmission, Telecommunication, Oil & Gas, Defence, Non-conventional Energy Sources etc. Its diverse manufacturing base supported by contemporary and unique manufacturing facilities give it a competitive edge.

The company is one of the most successful public sector enterprises con-sistently making profits since 1971-72 and paying dividends since 1976-77. During 2003-04, BHEL achieved the highest ever turnover of operations of Rs.8662 Crore and Net Profit of Rs.658 Crore, thereby maintaining its track record of making profits uninterruptedly for the last 32 years.

BHEL’s inherent potential coupled with its consistently excellent performance has resulted in it being chosen as the only engineering ‘Navratna’ PSE. The company has a committed workforce of nearly 44,000 employees spread at 14 manufacturing divisions, 8 service centres and 4 power sector regional centres, besides project sites spread all over India and abroad. BHEL also has a Corporate R&D centre at Hyderabad and product based R&D centres at all its manufacturing units.

Significantly, BHEL undertakes the entire gamut of engineering, manufacturing, erection and commissioning, even on turnkey basis - an expertise available only with a few power plant equipment manufacturers in the world.

One of the strongest points of BHEL has been its international competitiveness, which the company has successfully proved by bagging over 86% of power plant orders under international competitive bidding (ICB) in the domestic market, since 1978. In fact, the presence of BHEL in the Indian power plant market has compelled the competitors (MNCs) to quote attractive prices for power equipment. As such if BHEL wins in these bids, it gains an order and adds value in the country and in every case where BHEL competes, the country derives the benefit of lower project costs.

The non-power business segment also includes supplies to the Indian Railways. Today, about 85% of the Indian Railways (the second largest railway network in the world) is equipped with a variety of traction equipment manufactured by BHEL. The company has supplied over 55,000 traction machines to the Indian Railways.

BHEL has also carved a niche for itself in the global market. The company is India’s industrial ambassador to the world, having supplied products, services and projects to over 60 countries, from the United States in the West to New Zealand in the Far-East.

A quality conscious organisation with a stong customer focus, BHEL has upgraded to the latest ISO-9001: 2000 version for all its operations. To fulfill its corporate commitment towards protection and conservation of the environment and ensuring that its products and systems also meet such requirements, all the major units/divisions of BHEL have been awarded ISO-14001 Environmental Management System certification. In addition, as a responsible corporate citizen and to meet the exacting international standards in occupational health and safety, BHEL has secured the prestigious OHSAS-18001 certification for all its major units/divisions.

As a result of its thrust on quality and technology, BHEL enjoys national and international recognition, in the form of certification of products by international bodies like ASME, API etc. Most of the manufacturing units of BHEL have their own testing and calibration labs, which are duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Calibration and Testing Labs (NABL). The company has also adopted Total Quality Management through Self-assessment approach
as per EFQM/CII model of Business Excellence.

On its way to becoming a truly Indian transnational, the company always strives to create an ever increasing value for users of its products and services. It is the company’s constant endeavour to transform itself into one of the most competitive enterprises of its kind in this part of the world to international quality standards.

(Advertorial)