BHEL pins hope on bullet train to get back on track

For Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), the joint venture with Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) may well turn out to be a relief considering the recent drop in order inflows for the company.

According to its annual report, BHEL got orders worth only Rs 23,489 crore in 2016-17, a 46 per cent drop from Rs 43,727 crore in 2015-16. The company’s order book outstanding at the end of the last financial year stood at Rs 1,05,200 crore, down from Rs 1,10,730 crore in the year-ago period. Even new orders for the first quarter of the current financial year dropped 41 per cent to Rs 1,800 crore.

The bullet train order may turn vital considering that the orders from power sector have dropped from Rs 38,529 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 7,261 crore in 2016-17. The latest announcement along with the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may lead to a change in the business strategy of BHEL as a transportation solutions provider. This comes close on the heels of the company winning its largest export order worth Rs 10,000 crore for setting up the 2x660 MW Maitree Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Bangladesh.

According to reports, the company plans to manufacture specialised aluminium coaches at its Jhansi or Bhopal facility for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train. The construction of this line was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abe on Thursday. The company also wants to capitalise on Modi’s plan to get the metro rail in 50 cities.

BHEL