BGR forms new management team

Sasikala Raghupathy, wife of N G Ragupathy has taken over as Chairman of the board

Chennai-based BGR Energy Systems Ltd has announced appointment of a professional management team to take forward the works led by its late founder B G Raghupathy.

According to the announcement, Sasikala Raghupathy, wife of B G Ragupathy, has taken over as chairman of the board, while A Swaminathan, director marketing, has been appointed as joint managing director and chief executive officer, and V R Mahadevan, director - technology and HR as joint managing director.

Swaminathan will be in charge of the entire business operations and affairs of the company, including business divisions and subsidiary - Progen Systems and Technologies Limited.

“Currently the power companies are facing a difficult time, while we expect to see some positive trends next year. We will be taking the company forward to meet the vision of our former chairman,” said Swaminathan.

The company was also planning to bid for power projects in West Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. The company has downsized the investment and the size of the proposed manufacturing facility under the joint venture (JV) with Hitachi to manufacture turbine and boilers.

The capacity has been scaled down from 5,000 MW capacity, to 3,000 MW in view of the market condition, while the investment would be reduced to Rs 2,700 crore, from the earlier plan of Rs 3,200 crore.

Swaminathan is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and has over 35 years of experience in the power sector, with a 17-year stint in Tata Power . He joined BGR Energy Systems in 1997.

Mahadevan will be in charge of technology initiatives, information technology infrastructure and the business of Joint Venture companies - BGR Boilers Pvt Ltd and BGR Turbines Company Pvt Ltd, including implementation of capital projects. He will also be in-charge of technical collaborations and strategic collaborations and tie-ups.

He said that while the proposed manufacturing facility with Hitachi has undergone a downsizing, it is managed in such a way that it could easily be scaled up once the demand picks up. The company currently has an order backlog of Rs 11,900 crore, of which EPC is 96 per cent.

Order expected from Iraq
According to reports, a ministry spokesman from Iraq said BGR Energy Systems may get $246 milliion (Rs 1541 crore as per today’s currency rate) contract to build gas-fired power plant in Nasiriya, Iraq.

As reported recently, the company has been looking at coal and gas-based projects in the West Asia, Southeast Asia.