The move comes as the company diversifies into new areas such as electric mobility, nuclear power and renewable energy, and sees a reversal of fortunes with big orders in the thermal power generation and rail sectors.
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“It is being considered to classify BHEL as a strategic PSU. Now, a parliamentary committee has also recommended that the company be tagged as a strategic PSU, so further consideration will be given to this.” said one of the two officials cited above.
In its December report on the company, the Public Utilities Commission noted that BHEL is actively working in various key areas such as hydropower, nuclear power, defence, space, renewable energy and international business, and said that the suggested that the classification of BHEL should be considered. As a strategic power supply unit.
“The committee feels that as India steadily asserts itself as a world leader, safeguarding its strategic interests becomes imperative and BHEL has the potential to make a significant contribution under these circumstances. The committee therefore strongly recommends that the government consider awarding BHEL ‘strategic PSU status’, the panel said in its report.
The relevant departments of the Ministry of Heavy Industry, the Department of Investment and Public Assets Management (DIPAM), and the Department of Public Enterprises are expected to discuss this matter.
If this review takes concrete form, BHEL will likely be removed from the discussion of investment withdrawal.
Although the government is not actively discussing disinvestment from the company, BHEL was one of the first companies considered for the disinvestment process. “If it is classified as strategic, it will be completely removed from consideration for a stock sale,” said another person familiar with the matter.
Under the new Public Sector Enterprise Policy, the government, in consultation with concerned government ministries, NITI Aayog, Expenditure Department and DIPAM, will identify central PSUs in non-strategic sectors for closure or privatization.
Currently, approximately 63.17% of the company’s shares are held by the government, and the remaining 36.83% is held by the public. The company’s stock on BSE is INR211.25, 0.31% higher than the previous closing price.
Read this | Can BHEL regain its throne?
The current market capitalization is INR73,593,410,000.
The company saw a significant increase in orders last year. Received almost worth order INRIn fiscal year 2023-2024, it will amount to $7800 billion, a record high, more than three times the amount from the previous fiscal year. From 2022 to 2023, INR23,548 billion. This is also a significant increase in the order amount. INRIn 2020-21, it was 11,470 people.
In the last financial year, orders were mainly from the power sector, followed by the railway sector, including 80 Vande Bharat trains and 20 super-fast gun carriages (SRGMs) for Indian Navy warships.
With the Ministry of Power’s drive to launch 80 GW of additional coal-based power projects in the country by 2032, BHEL now has a complete order book for power plant boilers.
The company’s FY24 annual report states, “Our thermal power generation business has made a comeback, securing orders worth 9.6GW and achieving 100% market share.”
Additionally, the company plans to focus on the power transmission business as the need for a stable power grid increases with the introduction of renewable electricity in Japan. India is targeting non-fossil power generation capacity of 500GW by 2030.
The second person cited above said that currently BHEL’s order book is as follows: INRThe company has been asked to complete outstanding orders with 85-90% of the work completed as soon as possible.
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Questions sent to MHI, DIPAM, and DPE remained unanswered until the time of writing.
