Heavy industries and public enterprises minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also indicated that BHEL could be up for 10 per cent disinvestment this fiscal. However, plans for disinvestment are only “under consideration,” with no definitive decisions. The disinvestment plan was initially shelved after the UPA faced opposition from the Left Parties in its previous term.

Ravi Kumar, chairman and managing director of BHEL, said he had not been informed of any plans of disinvestment in BHEL. “I have not heard of any disinvestment. We have no role in that. It is the government’s prerogative.”

Although BHEL is leading the charge for electrical modernisation among Indian organisations, they are leaning on foreign companies. BHEL already has technology agreements with French company Alstom for supercritical boilers and Siemens of Germany for supercritical generators.

“We are openly saying that 78,000 MW cannot be met by BHEL alone. Even with our expansion, there will be different players,” said a BHEL spokesperson who did not wish to be named.

BHEL would complete synchronisation of several thermal and hydro projects, enter into MoUs with state power generation companies for joint ventures for super critical thermal power plants and take further initiatives to supply stainless steel energy-efficient EMU coaches to Indian Railways, an official release said.