Healthy orders from BHEL lifts the pall of gloom over ancillary units in Tiruchi

Ancillary industries of the State-owned Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL), Tiruchi, which were facing bleak future, are slowly and steadily on the recovery path with surge in orders from the public sector undertaking

Ancillary industries of the State-owned Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL), Tiruchi, which were facing bleak future, are slowly and steadily on the recovery path with surge in orders from the public sector undertaking.

According to sources, BHEL Tiruchi has significantly expanded its order book by securing several big ticket contracts in the core thermal power sector and other diversified areas such as defence, transportation, transmission, and oil and gas. It has received orders worth several hundreds of crores of rupees for boilers, industrial valves, tubes, and engineering items for various power plants. The high volume orders are expected to continue in the next financial year.

In turn, the BHEL has started placing orders for a substantial portion of the components and fabrication to its ancillary industries in Thuvakudi, Thiruverumbur, Mathur, Mandaiyur, and others. It continues to hold awareness meetings with various stakeholders to make use of the opportunity. It is in the process of increasing the list of vendors.

According to industrial sources, there were about 425 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Tiruchi district when BHEL was at its peak. Dwindling orders and its cascading impact severely hit the financial health of most MSMEs. At least 100 units had turned out to be non-performing assets (NPA) and they eventually became sick and shut down their operations. More than 100 units had been facing severe strain on various aspects and only 150 units were up and running.

Of them, the ancillary units that focused on quality had received high volume orders from the BHEL. There are industries, which were virtually closed down their units, have resumed their operation thanks to the fresh and steady orders from BHEL.

“The order has gone up by 50% compared to last financial year. I am expecting more orders from BHEL in 2025-26. Orders for many ancillary industries have also gone up substantially, thereby raising the hope for better fortune for at least five to six years,” says N. Kanagasabapathy, Managing Director, R.K. Metal Industries, Tiruverumbur.

He said that most of the nationalised banks, sensing the revival of ancillary industries in Tiruchi, had been conducting meetings, thereby inviting the entrepreneurs to avail loans for their industries.