BEML bets big on mining equipment

November 28, 2011

BEML Limited, the Bangalore-based defence ministry undertaking, is looking at a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore from the mining and construction equipment business during the current fiscal (2011-12), a growth of 25 per cent over last fiscal, a top company official said.

“We have a strong order book of Rs 6,000 crore on hand and we have just enhanced our product portfolio with the launch of Rail-Road Excavator among others. We have a strong enquiry from the Indian railway contractors and road developers for this product,” V R S Natarajan, chairman and managing director, BEML, told Business Standard on the sidelines of Excon 2011, international exhibition on construction equipment, here.

The Rs 3,500 crore BEML has three main business units such as mining and construction, defence, rail and metro. It has recently forayed into aerospace components business. It manufactures dozers, excavators, dumpers, pipe layers, walking draglines among others in the mining and construction business segment.

BEML is also looking at revenue of Rs 1,500 crore from the railway business and another Rs 1,000 crore from the defence segment. The company recently secured an order worth Rs 1,400 crore from the Army for supply of 204 units of Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) based on T72 tanks. It also received an order for supply of 135 intermediate metro coaches from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRCL) recently, he said.

“We are in an advanced stage of securing an order worthRs 300 crore from Jaipur Metro for supply of 40 coaches on standard gauge platform. This order will be increased to 100 units going forward worth Rs 600 crore, Natarajan said. He said the company is also in the process of supplying intermediate cars to Delhi Metro.

“Delhi Metro is going for a big contract for supply of 400 cars. We also expect them to place an order for standard gauge intermediate cars. They are going in for an 8-car train set from the existing 6-car train set. We are currently negotiating with them for an order for about 100+ units,” he said. For Bangalore Metro, the company is set to deliver 150 coaches and expects to supply another 90 coaches in the second phase. Once, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) goes for a 6-car train set from the existing three car train set, another 150 coach order is expected, he said. In addition to this, BEML is also looking at other Metro rail projects like Hyderabad and Kolkata.

“The BOT (build, own and transfer) operator for Hyderabad Metro, which is L&T, has floated the tender for rolling stock. We are the strong contenders to bag this order. Apart from this, we are also looking forward to participate in the international projects like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Colombo, Malaysia and Dhaka. All these countries are likely to float tenders shortly. We will work with international consultants and our technology partner, Rotem of Korea in all these projects,” Natarajan said.

BEML is also set to export five numbers of dredging units to Bangladesh under a line of credit between India and Bangladesh. The company has tied up with Vosta of Holland for technology to manufacture dredgers at its Mysore facility. The company aims to capture at least 25 per cent of the Rs 6,000 crore dredging market in India, Natarajan added.

Source: business-standard.com