Power equipment manufacturer BHEL announced that its boiler auxiliaries facility had attained a record high turnover of Rs 2,000 crore during the last fiscal (2008-09).

During the fiscal, the company said that the profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 253 crore.

Moreover, its dispatches were up 30% at 1.9 lakh metric tonnes during the period under review.

The facility saw an increase of 26% in its growth rate, while it bagged orders worth Rs 3,700 crore during the fiscal.

In a significant move, country’s largest private sector electricity generating company, Tata Power Company (TPC) on Monday started commercial operations of its 250 megawatt power plant at the Trombay Thermal Power Station in Mumbai.

As a result of the commissioning, the generation capacity of the Trombay plant will be increased to 1,600 MW from 1,350 MW. The plant will operate on imported Indonesian coal. The company believes that the commissioning will help bridge the gap between the ever increasing demand and supply of power.

PSU power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged a contract worth about Rs 345 crore from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

The contract entails the manufacturing of steam generators for its Kakrapara atomic power project in Gujarat. This is the company’s first-ever order for manufacturing 700MWe (megawatt electric) nuclear steam generators. These steam generators will be manufactured at the Trichy plant of Bhel.

Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL), a leading EPC player in power transmission and distribution, announced that it has pocketed three orders from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) for 765 kv and 400 kv transmission line projects.

The fresh orders received by the company are valued at Rs 399 crore.

The scope of the orders includes supply and construction of transmission lines in Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Assam.

The company is required to execute the orders between 18 to 24 months.

With a view to fulfill its fuel requirement, country’s biggest thermal power generating company, NTPC has decided to import 12.5 million tons of coal in the next financial year (FY-09-10).

Speaking on the sidelines of a CII event here, VS Sampath, Power Secretary said, “We have set a coal import target of 35 million tons for power utilities in 2009-10 against the earlier planned 25 million tons.”

Power equipment manufacturer KEC International announced that it has bagged orders worth Rs 291 crore from Power Grid of India for setting up transmission lines in Madhya Pradesh and Assam.

The company said that the first order is for the supply and creation of 765 kv Satna-Bina line and another 400 kv line at Bina associated with ATS for the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Madhya Pradesh.

The other project consists of two 400 kv and one 132 kv transmission lines between Balipara-Biswanath and Depota-Gohpur in Assam.