Heavy Industries

The healthy growth in the industrial secto achieved during 2003-04 has continued during the current year as well with overall industrial growth (measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production) growing at a rate of 7.9 per cent during the April– September 2004-05 compared with 6.2 percent achieved during the same period last year.

Use based classification reveals that consumer goods sector clocked a growth of 8.8 per cent during April–September 2004-05 on top of 8.3 per cent growth for the same period last year. Consumer durable sub sector has shown an impressive growth of 15.2 per cent during April–September 2004-05 on top of 6.7 per cent increase in the same period last year. The consumer non-durable sub sector has also retained its growth momentum. It posted a growth of 6.7 per cent in April–September 2004-05 compared with a growth of 8.9 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Basic and intermediate goods sectors posted a growth of 5.2 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively during April–September 2004-05 compared with a growth of 4.3 per cent and 5 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

Capital goods sector, which has posted a robust growth of 13.6 per cent in 2003-04, has maintained its growth momentum during the current year as well. According to the Index of Industrial Production, capital goods sector posted a growth of 14.5 per cent during April–September 2004-05 on top of 10 per cent growth during the same period of the previous year.

Production and growth rates of some of the industries being dealt within the Department of Heavy Industry for the period April–September 2004-05 as compared to April–September 2003-04 are given below:

Heavy Electrical Equipment

Heavy Electrical Industry covers Units manufacturing large plant and machinery required for power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization. These include turbo-generators, boilers, various type of turbines, transformers, motors switchgears and other such items.

Majority of products manufactured by Heavy Electrical Industry in the country, which includes items like power generating units electric motors, transformers, switchgears etc. are used by all sectors of the Indian Economy. Some major areas where these are used are the large projects for power generation including nuclear power stations, petrochemical complexes, chemical plants integrated steel plants, non-ferrous metal units etc. The industry has been upgrading the existing technology. As a result, today India is among a handful of nations to have a strong industrial base and can undertake complex projects on turnkey basis for export markets also. The Industry is free to take up manufacture of any item.

The existing installed capacity in the industry is of the order of 4500 MW of thermal, 1345 MW of Hydro and about 25 MW of gas based power generation equipment per annum and manufacturing units depending upon the needs and their capacity are augmenting the capacity. The industry has also established a strong manufacturing base to the requirement of equipment for nuclear power plants in the country. The share of domestic equipment is about 66% in the country's generation capacity.
The Heavy Electrical Industry is capable of manufacturing transmission and distribution equipment upto 400 KV AC and high voltage DC.
The Indian industry has taken up the work for upgradation of transmission to next higher voltage system of 765 kV class transformers, reactors, CTs, CVTs, bushing and insulators etc. Large electrical motor used in Steel Plants, Petrochemical complex and other such heavy industries are also being manufactured in the country.
The domestic Heavy Electrical equipment manufacturers are making use of the developments in the global market with respect to product designs and upgrading of manufacturing & testing facilities. The industry has taken up work for development of Flexible AC Transmission (FACTs) and other Power Electronics Projects. BHEL has already introduced FACTS and Controlled Shunt Reactor (CSR).

Turbines & Generator Sets

The capacity established for manufacture of various kinds of turbines such as steam & hydro turbines including Industrial turbines is more than 7000 MW per annum in the country. Apart from BHEL, the public sector unit which has the largest installed capacity of 6000 MW p.a. there are units in the private sector also manufacturing steam & hydro turbines for power generation and industrial use. The manufacturing range of BHEL includes steam turbines upto 500 MW unit rating which they are planning to enhance upto 660 MW. They have capability to manufacture Gas Turbines upto 255 MW (ISO) rating.
AC Generators manufactured in India are at par with international AC Generators and consistently deliver high quality power with performance. Domestic manufacturers are capable of manufacturing AC Generator right from 0.5 KVA to 25,000 KVA and above with specified voltage rating.
The Import and Exports during 2003 - 04 were Rs. 129293.9 million and Rs. 2392.8 million respectively.

Boilers

BHEL is the largest manufacturer of boiler in the country and has the capacity to manufacture boilers from 30 to 500 MV capacity using Coal, lignite, oil, natural gas or a combination of these super critical parameters up to 1000 MW unit size. BHEL presently accounts for around 60% of total production of boilers. The domestic industry has the capacity to meet the requirement/demand for boilers indigenously.

The industry has the capability to manufacture boilers with super critical parameters upto 1,000 MW unit size. The domestic industry has the capacity to meet the indigenous requirement/ demand for boilers.

The import and exports during 2003-04 were Rs. 727.3 million and Rs. 1560.6 million respectively. The exports during the year have grown by 153%.

Transformers

The domestic transformers industry is well established with ability to provide state-of the-art equipments. The industry has the capacity to manufacture whole range of power and distribution transformers including the REC ratings of 25,53,100 KVA and also the extra High voltage range of 400 kV, 600 MVA. Special type of transformers are required for earthing; furnaces, rectifiers; electrostatic precipitators; freight loco etc. and series and shunt reactors as well as HVDC transmission upto 500 kV are also being manufactured in the country's power sector development programme. The export opportunities have also improved for Indian industry. Many of the transformer manufactures have now started exporting their products, even to western countries and to the USA.
The exports during 2003-04 were Rs. 7783.3 million and have grown by 56%.

Switchgear & Control Gear

In India, the entire range of circuit breakers from bulk oil, minimum oil, air blast, vacuum to Sulfur Hexaflouride (SF6) are manufactured to standard specifications for the benefit of customers. The range of products produced cover the entire voltage range for 240V to 800V. Switchgear and control gear, Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCBs), air circuit breakers, switches, rewireable fuses and High Rupture Capacity (HRC) fuses with their respective fuse bases, holders and starters are being produced to customer's specifications as well as to standard specifications. Motor control centers, distribution panels and elaborate control systems based on microprocessor and computer control are also available for power stations, load dispatch centers, major receiving centers and industrial complexes.
The industry is competitive in the field of design and engineering as the skill sets available in the country are relatively less expensive. The exports during 2003-04 were Rs. 654.31 crore and have grown by 32%.

Electrical Furnaces

There are two types of Electrical furnaces, i.e. (i) Induction furnaces, heating equipment and (ii) Arc Furnaces. Electrical Furnaces are used in Metallurgical and Engineering industries like forging and foundry, machine tools, automobiles etc. Adequate capacity for production of these products has been established.

Shunting Locomotives

Shunting locomotives for localized/internal transport facilities are used in Railways, Steel Plants. Thermal power plants etc. The installed capacity is adequate to meet the domestic demand. BHEL among others is manufacturing such locomotives.