Bharat Forge plans Rs50,000-crore power sector investment

Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), the flagship company of the $2.4-billion Kalyani Group, is planning to enter the power sector with investment plans of Rs50,000 crore and a generating capacity of around 10,000 mega Watt power over the next ten years.

The company, which currently manufactures various forged and machined components for the automotive and non-automotive sectors, said it now plans to set up power plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Reports quoting company sources said the move is part of the company's strategy to derisk itself by limiting its reliance on auto component business.

Estimates on investment requirements have been arrived at on the basis of an average Rs5 crore requirement per mega Watt of power generation, the source added.

Electricity demand in the country is estimated to grow at an average 8-10 per cent over the next few decades to nearly 800,000 MW by 2031-32.

Bharat Forge and its wholly owned global subsidiaries (other than China operations) reported total profit after tax of Rs40.74 crore for the quarter ended September 2009-10  against Rs46.14 crore in the previous quarter and Rs4.14 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.