Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Nov 6 With the economy showing broad signs of a revival, equipment major BHEL is betting on a near doubling in order bookings in the second half of the current fiscal.

The State-owned firm is looking at booking orders to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore in the second half of the current fiscal, as against around Rs 20,000 crore in the first half, with core sector activity showing a clear uptrend.

“Our target for the full fiscal stays at Rs 55,000 crores (for new order bookings). While the achievement in the first six months has been slightly over Rs 20,000 crore, we are well on our way to achieve the target for the full fiscal,” a company official said.

The trickle down effect of the Government’s stimulus package has translated into industrial output growing the most in 22 months in August 2009, indicating signs of turnaround in the domestic market.

Manufacturing, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the industrial output, also exhibited a sharp spike in the month of August.

BHEL’s order bookings during the first six months of the current fiscal was recorded at Rs 20,425 crore, aggregating to about 8,024 MW of new capacity.

Of this, the power sector accounted for Rs 13,090 crore, while the industry segment accounted for Rs. 6,786 crore of new orders while Rs. 947 crore came in from the state-owned equipment firm’s international operations.

In the second quarter alone, the company booked around Rs 8,017 crore worth of new orders.

BHEL had reported a 21 per cent jump in sales for the first six months of the fiscal at Rs 12,716 crore. Net profit was up 33 per cent at Rs 1,329 crore.

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