BEML eyes long-wall mining business

The government-owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has entered into talks with UK based mining equipment major Joy Mining Machinery and DBT GmbH of Germany for manufacturing long wall mining equipment and machinery parts through a joint venture.

The company has also firmed up plans for manufacturing metro coaches in collaboration with Rotem of Korea.

Initial plans are to supply these coaches to the Bangalore metro railway system. With as many as 10 metro projects in the pipeline, BEML expects good orders in the next few years.

Talking to Business Standard, chairman and managing director, BEML, V RS Natarajan, said, "BEML has entered into talks around a month back and expect to strike a deal in the next couple of months with one of the majors. The idea is to manufacture equipment and machinery which would in turn be brought back by them"" this would be a sourcing kind of a deal".

Joy Mining and Machinery and DBT specialise in long-wall technology for mining.

Natarajan said, "We hope to achieve a Rs 2,000 crore turnover by 2005 against Rs 1,765 crore achieved in the previous year. Our order book position is among the best in the last few years. As of now, our order book position stands at Rs 2050 crore. Another Rs 1050 crore is in the pipeline and should mature in the next three months."

Natarajan said the company had drawn up a vision plan, according to which the turnover was expected to touch Rs 5,000 crore in 2013-14.

BEML earned a profit-before-tax of Rs 50.18 crore last year, the highest in 12 years.

The first quarter of the current fiscal saw the company earning a profit of Rs 9.31 crore as against a loss of Rs 16.98 crore during the same period last year.

BEML has aimed to increase sales to the armed forces through new products like a pontoon bridge and Sarvathra bridge systems, besides Tatra-based ground support equipment.

Recently, BEML secured orders worth Rs 1,000 crore from armed forces.

Orders for 100 BHIM T6 SP155 Gun system were on the anvil. The gun order would make BEML the second company in the country to manufacture and supply gun system and tanks.

The company is expanding infrastructure for manufacturing and testing BHIM-T6 systems as well.