AK Power Industries Pvt Ltd is
gearing up for 765kV hardware
and is very bullish on the
domestic demand for EHV products in
the medium term. Speaking to
Electrical Monitor during Elecrama
2012, H. Ahmed, Vice President
(Technical), A.K. Power Industries,
said, "The demand for 765kV hardware
is expected to be very high in the next
five years, and we will keenly focus on
this market."
The Howrah-based company is a
supplier of towers, substation
hardware and accessories, insulator
hardware and accessories, up to the
400kV class of power transmission. It
also caters to the telecom sector.
AK Power has already developed
sample hardware for the 765kV class
and the same is currently being tested.
Ahmed recalled his personal experience
of being associated with the 765kV
Kishanpur-Mogha line of Power Grid
Corporation of India whilst he was
with Star Iron Works Pvt Ltd, believed
to the first supplier of 765kV power
transmission hardware in Asia.
Ahmed also elaborated on AK
Power's plan of diversifying into
heavy engineering. The company
intends to make mechanical heavy
structures for infrastructure projects,
like roadways, he said. "We are
promoting this new line of business
through Elecrama," he said.
Speaking on other aspirations,
Ahmed said that the company was
keen on the exports market. "There is
good demand for electric hardware
from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, UAE,
and other countries," he observed. For
the next five years, AK Power expects
around 10 per cent of our business to
come from the exports market.
However, in the medium term, the
focus would continue to be on the
Indian market, he reiterated.
On the company's expansion plans,
Ahmed explained that the expansion of
physical capacity would largely be
related to diversification into 765kV
hardware. During 2010-11, AK Power
clocked a sales turnover of Rs.110 crore
and achieved physical production of
around 22 tonnes, based on an average
realization of Rs.50 per kg.
The company currently supplies to
all leading state transmission utilities
and has applied for vendor
registration with Power Grid
Corporation of India Ltd, Ahmed
elaborated. "All manufacturing
infrastructure for 765kV hardware
has been developed by us
indigenously." When asked about
induction of a foreign technical
partner, Ahmed said that the
company would do so if necessary.
"So far, all our products have been
developed indigenously." Discussing
competition from China, Ahmed was
quick to observe that Chinese
competition was so far not evident in
the electric hardware market.
When questioned on procurement
policies of different state transmission
utilities, Ahmed observed that while
STUs largely observe uniform
specifications, there could be some
differences. "For instance, while most
state utilities seek galvanized mild steel
(MS) U-bolts, the Maharashtra state
transmission utility insists on U-bolts
made from stainless steel."
On other matters, Ahmed expressed
confidence in the testing facilities in
India. The experience of testing
products at CPRI is definitely better
than overseas, say Japan or Korea.
"CPRI has all the testing facilities and
even Chinese companies are testing
their products here," he observed in
lighter vein.