BHEL : Revitalizing India’s Infrastructure through Innovation and Diversification

An Interview with Bani Varma | Director (Industrial System & Products) | BHEL

Introduction

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is a leading company in the Capital Goods sector, proudly contributing to the Make in India initiative since 1964. Serving both domestic and international markets, BHEL operates across the power and industrial sectors, offering comprehensive solutions, in thermal, hydro, gas, nuclear, solar, rail transportation, defence & aerospace, oil & gas, and other core sectors.

As India’s infrastructure landscape undergoes rapid transformation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the country’s premier engineering and manufacturing enterprise, stands at the forefront of change. Once synonymous solely with power, BHEL is now redefining its identity through diversification into transportation, defence, renewable energy, and transmission sectors.

In this exclusive interview, Ms Bani Varma, Director (Industrial Systems & Products), BHEL, shares her insights on the power sector’s resurgence, the company’s diversification roadmap, and the vision that’s propelling BHEL towards a sustainable, technology-driven future.

The thermal sector seems to be regaining momentum. What is driving this turnaround, and how is BHEL contributing?

India’s power sector is entering a phase of decisive transformation after a prolonged period of subdued growth, due to rapidly rising electricity demand, increasingly volatile peak loads, and the essential need for firm, dispatchable base load power to balance an expanding renewable ecosystem. FY 2024–25 marked a watershed moment, with the nation recording its highest-ever peak demand of 250 GW with forward projections indicating an annual rise of 16–18 GW through 2030.The Government has recalibrated its capacity-addition strategy with a renewed emphasis on energy security, proposing 80 GW of new coal-based capacity by 2031–32. The impact of this policy shift is already visible: more than 25 GW of thermal capacity has been ordered in the past two years, 11.7 GW has been commissioned since April 2023, and nearly 39 GW is under active construction. This trend recognises the continuing role of thermal power plants in ensuring grid stability and sustaining the renewable-led transition.

Within this re-energised landscape, FY 2024–25 was a landmark year for BHEL  with a win of 14.6 GW of new thermal orders from NTPC, GSECL, SCCL, DVC, CSPGCL, Adani Power etc.

The company is working towards catering to this upcoming demand by strengthening EPC capabilities as well as offering equipment that reduces environmental footprint, such as emission control solutions, and air-cooled condensers (which significantly reduce water consumption). BHEL is also expanding its business of spares and services through long term spares supply and service agreements with customers, and offering flexiblisation solutions for dealing with grid stability issues due to fluctuations in renewable power generation.

How does BHEL balance its strong legacy in power with its diversification initiatives?

The company is implementing an aggressive strategy for diversification of its portfolio, with the aim of significantly ramping up business from its various industrial verticals spanning across Transportation, Defence, Transmission, Oil & gas, Industrial products, and Renewable energy. Buoyed by the Government’s focus on Atmanirbharta, there are several opportunities arising in these sectors which the company is targeting. It is also building upon its competence and capability to address these areas through augmentation of resources.  Key CAPEX projects are being implemented/ envisioned, and on-boarding of manpower, including industry specialists is being done to handhold the company through these new areas. BHEL is also engaging actively with technology providers and other partners to offer complete, technologically relevant solutions to its customers.

Leveraging its engineering strength, massive manufacturing base, and a huge pool of talented and skilled manpower, BHEL intends to drive growth in emerging sectors, ensuring long-term sustainability and resilience, by ensuring a healthy balance between its power and diversified portfolios.

Transportation has emerged as a major thrust area. Could you share recent developments?

BHEL has a rich legacy in rail electrics, having played a major role in supporting the Indian Railways in their journey towards modernisation and indigenisation. The Government too has rolled out an ambitious National Rail Plan for upgrading its infrastructure and existing rolling stock, aiming to enhance not only its freight and passenger carrying capacity, but also boost passenger experience and safety.

Aligning itself with the above objective, BHEL, along with another leading Indian OEM emerged as one of the successful bidders in the tender for manufacturing 80 Vande Bharat sleeper train sets along with 35 years of maintenance support. This was one of the largest ever orders for rolling stock placed by the Indian Railways and marked BHEL’s transition from being a mere traditional propulsion equipment manufacturer to a complete solution provider.

BHEL has also been offering complete locomotives to the Indian Railways, having supplied more than 800 locomotives so far.  Recently, the company also secured its maiden order for the KAVACH system—the indigenous railway safety technology—covering on-board and trackside installations, thereby entering the critical rail safety segment.

Going forward, the company plans to address the future businesses of Train sets and other urban mobility solutions, Advanced High Power and Alternate Fuel Locos, Signalling systems and Maintenance services. Keeping an eye on its carbon foot print, and aligning with India’s green mobility vision, BHEL has also partnered with a leading firm for developing hydrogen fuel cell-based locomotives.

Defence manufacturing is a strategic pillar under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’–How is BHEL contributing?

Defence manufacturing has become a strategic focus area for BHEL and with a legacy of over five decades of partnership with the armed forces, BHEL has designed and developed a wide range of specialized equipment and weapon systems for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The company is currently supplying state-of-the-art upgraded Super Rapid Gun Mounts (SRGMs), a frontline naval weapon system deployed on Indian Navy vessels, demonstrating its proven capability in precision engineering and systems integration. It has also supplied the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for the INS Vikrant (Indian Aircraft Carrier) and has also secured further orders for Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels & Fleet Support Ships for the Indian Navy which are under execution.

BHEL is also one of the few organizations globally capable of designing and manufacturing compact heat exchangers and pump modules for military aircraft and helicopters, and is working in close coordination with defence development establishments such as CASDIC, HAL, ADA, NAL etc., for developing a diverse range of equipment and services.

In the space sector, BHEL has a long-standing association with ISRO and its various centres for space related requirements. The company has been supplying propellant tanks, space-grade solar panels & batteries / cells for satellites and launch vehicles. Chandrayaan and NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) missions are some of the recent notable missions carrying BHEL equipment

Defence being a sensitive sector, it is not possible to share much about the programmes the company is working on or targeting in the future, but BHEL is taking advantage of the Defence Ministry’s emphasis on indigenous production and technology partnership, and is partnering the forces in several strategic platforms.

Renewable energy and green technologies are reshaping the energy ecosystem– How is BHEL preparing for this transition?

The company is expanding its portfolio beyond conventional power into emerging areas such as solar power, green hydrogen, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and e-mobility infrastructure.

It has a portfolio of nearly 1200 MW of executed solar plants including the highest rating floating solar plant in the country viz. 100 MW NTPC Ramagundam. The company intends to be an EPC player in this segment and in FY 2024–25, it secured major renewable orders including the Balance of System (BOS) package for NTPC Renewable Energy’s 300 MW solar PV project at Khavda, Gujarat, one of the country’s largest solar parks.

Strengthening its green hydrogen capabilities, BHEL signed a Technology Transfer Agreement with BARC for 50 kW alkaline electrolyser system for scaling up through indigenous R&D. At the same time, it is also actively looking at commercial scale electrolyser technologies for collaborations to address the ongoing opportunities. The company is working on offering comprehensive solutions across the hydrogen ecosystem, ranging from electrolyser manufacturing and hydrogen production systems to fuel cell-based applications for mobility and stationary power, positioning itself as an integrated player in this emerging domain.

Transmission is another vital enabler of the clean energy transition. What is BHEL’s role here?

BHEL today offers end-to-end solutions across EHV, HVAC, and HVDC technologies, enabling efficient evacuation and integration of renewable power into the national grid.

The company has secured several marquee orders in FY 2024–25, including the ±800 kV, 6,000 MW HVDC link between Khavda (Gujarat) and Nagpur (Maharashtra), one of India’s largest transmission projects awarded by POWERGRID. This corridor is critical for transferring renewable energy from the resource-rich western region to load centres in central and northern India, directly supporting the clean energy transition. In the current fiscal, BHEL also secured prestigious contract for the ±800 kV, 6,000 MW HVDC link between Bhadla (Rajasthan) and Fatehpur (Uttar Pradesh) from Adani Energy Solutions Ltd. reinforcing its leadership in high-voltage DC transmission.

The company has also received several EPC contracts for the development of 765/400/220 kV substations for Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) transmission projects from POWERGRID.

BHEL’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities produce a wide range of advanced transmission equipment—including converter transformers, reactors, thyristor valves, filter capacitors, composite insulators, and digital control & protection systems, for both AC and DC applications.

In addition, the company is gearing up for next-generation grid solutions like EHV Gas-Insulated Substations (GIS), Digital Substations, and 1200 kV Ultra-High Voltage AC (UHVAC) systems, aligning with India’s grid modernization roadmap.

Finally, what’s your vision for BHEL over the next decade?

I echo the Company’s vision statement of being “A global engineering enterprise providing solutions for a better tomorrow”. Over the next decade, I wish to see the company as a diversified, multinational, engineering conglomerate, which is future-ready, globally competitive and at the heart of India’s sustainable industrial and energy evolution.

For this, the organisation will aggressively spearhead diversification into high-growth industrial domains, as well as maintain its stranglehold over the power sector. With its vast manufacturing base, R&D ecosystem, and engineering talent, the company will harness digitalization, AI-driven design, and advanced manufacturing to enhance efficiency, agility, and sustainability. It would also work in collaboration with leading technology players, as well as other complementing partners to create new business models like JVs, SPVs to address opportunities in BOO (Build Own Operate), and BOOT (Build Own Operate and Transfer) space.

In essence, BHEL’s vision for the coming decade is to evolve from a traditional engineering and manufacturing organisation into a technology-driven national champion, powering India’s clean energy ambitions, enabling infrastructure growth, and delivering innovation-led solutions for a resilient future.

(Shilpa Bichitra | Special Edition | 2025)