The Indian Government through Bharat Heavy Industries Limited (BHEL) is looking for international manufacturing partners to set up a common manufacturing base in India. It has launched an expression of interest (EOI) for original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
BHEL said it wants to leverage its facilities and capabilities to set up the manufacturing base in the country to further promote the 'Make in India' initiative of the federal government.
One among the areas of cooperation in this field relates to joint production in the solar value chain, heavy electrical equipment, Li-Ion cells and process plant equipment, among others. The company, which already manufactures solar cells and modules, wants to expand its operations along the solar value chain by taking up polysilicon refining, wafer and ingot manufacturing, etc.
It touts 'vast land bank' availability spanning 14,000 acres in its integrated facilities across India to woo investors. The collaboration could be in the form of a joint venture, joint manufacturing, technology licensing, contract manufacturing and know-how transfer management.
"The ongoing economic disruption across the world, due to COVID-19 has highlighted the dangers of manufacturing activities being concentrated in a single location and thrown up the need for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing," explains BHEL and says this state of affairs has presented a huge opportunity for India which is an 'attractive investment destination' for the world.
Decentralizing manufacturing will need to be adopted as a major strategy to mitigate disruption risks associated with concentrated and localized operations, it adds.
Operating under the Department of Heavy Industries as a central public sector enterprise (CPSE), BHEL says it has 16 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India along with 16 centers of excellence (CoE) in various areas. The CPSE is also a leading EPC player for solar power projects.
The EOI is accessible on BHEL's website.