While a lot seems to be have been made out of the policy paralysis issue, it is actually a constant state of crisis that is making global majors worried. The concern this time is in the power sector where losses in distribution are touching one per cent of gross domestic product. Along with that has come the coal crisis. So, there is Alstom Grid, part of euro 20-billion Paris-based Alstom group, deciding to make India its single largest investment destination next year, which is still nervous.
India adds 15 per cent to Alstom Grid’s global sales of euro 4 billion. The company that likes to trace its history in the country to 1911, when it took off as GEC India, has seen ups and downs. “India will be the single-largest area of capital expenditure for us next year but it makes me nervous. Frankly, I will like to do this in a better investment climate. On paper, it is not intelligent because there is lot of uncertainty in the Indian market,” Gregoire Poux-Guillaume, president and CEO, Alstom Grid, told Business Standard.
Alstom Grid, that functions as Alstom T&D in India, is a market leader in the Indian power transmission sector. It has 3,500 employees and eight world class manufacturing units here. It is a major supplier to PowerGrid and has been involved with setting up the national load dispatch centre that monitors flow of electricity from one region to the other.
Poux-Guillaume said the situation was a “bit unsettled”. “There are problems with SEBs and there is the coal-allocation issue currently going on. We have to see the fallout of these issues and what it will mean in terms of investment in the electricity market. We came to the conclusion that they we will invest less. That is clearly an issue with us.” At the same time, the company “sees through the blackout”.
Poux-Guillaume said with India investing in increasing power generation capacity, grid investment will become unavoidable. “Maybe it will be slower but there will be a catch-up effect.”