Heavy industries minister Praful Patel on Monday made a strong pitch for the imposition of a tariff barrier to curb imports of power plant and equipment in order to provide a level playing field to local manufacturers.
“My ministry is in total agreement with the demand made by Indian manufacturers and will take up the matter with the finance ministry, the Planning Commission and the ministries concerned. In several cases, it was found that there was faulty supply of equipment, especially by Chinese companies. The ministry will once again take up the matter in order to give relief to the local manufacturers,” Patel rold reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association.
Patel said the state-run Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL), which is engaged in the production and supply of main plant and equipment, has already increased its capacity of over 15,000 Mw annually. Besides, couple of JVs formed by L&T, JSW, Bharat Forge were in the midst of development of their manufacturing facilities.
This would help these firms meet the rising demands of main plant and balance of plant in the country. “However, the local manufacturers will have to compete with foreign suppliers on price front and this will be possible by imposition of tariff barrier in the form of import duty,” he reiterated.
He highlighted the country needed to find a balance between the needs of a growing economy and environmental preservation. Issues like availability of fuel for power projects, difficulties in land acquisition, escalating imports of electrical equipment, financial state of power distribution utilities and inability to meet targets laid down are all adversely impacting the state of the domestic electrical equipment manufacturing industry.
“The country may face a situation where due to these delays the manufacturers of main plant and other equipment will have to wait. India may not be able to achieve its planned capacity addition but may add 60,000 Mw by the end of 11th Plan,” he noted. Patel admitted the high level of transmission and distribution losses has been a major concern and this had to be tackled effectively. “When the power sector reforms started after 1991, the country focused on generation and did not do much on reforming the transmission and distribution sector.
Even though several measures have been launched to plug transmission and distribution losses, more efforts are required,” he noted.
“This requires a holistic approach as the power sector is critical for the socio-economic development of the nation,” Patel added. He extolled the electrical equipment industry to upscale the size of its operations and manufacture best quality products at the most affordable prices so that cost-effective power is generated in the country.