New Delhi, April 28: The two public sector companies, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) and National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), are set to announce the formation of a joint venture company on Tuesday that would manufacture power equipment in the country. This would be the second public sector undertaking (PSU) after Bhel to undertake this activity.

The 50:50 joint venture, to be called NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Pvt Ltd, would have three bases spread across the country — one for the manufacture of turbines; another for the manufacture of boilers while the third base would be for providing equipment for balance of plant works including coal handing facilities.

While the base to manufacture boilers is expected to be located in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the base to manufacture turbines is expected to be located in Maharashtra and the third base for the new joint venture company is expected to be in the eastern region.

Sources said Bhel is in the process of taking over the defunct Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Ltd, and this company is expected to provide the required infrastructure to set the base to manufacture boilers. For turbines, though a decision is yet to be taken, the location is expected to be Pune as the area can provide the required vendor base, sources said.

However, a final decision on the exact location of the manufacturing base would be dependent on the recommendations of an expert committee which is looking into the matter, senior officials in the heavy industry ministry said.

In order to kick off works for the new joint venture, both Bhel and NTPC are going to offer three projects to this new company. It needs to be mentioned that both Bhel and NTPC, along with their administrative ministries, had divergent views on allowing a new PSU to enter this arena. While the power ministry wanted NTPC to get into this activity, the heavy industry ministry wanted Bhel to retain a strong hold in this area and wanted orders to be placed with BHEL.