—
Raman Roop Sawhney, Managing Director, Chola Turbo
Machinery International Pvt Ltd
Bengaluru-based
Chola Turbo Machinery International Pvt
Ltd (CTMI) is a prominent name in the field of steam
turbines, serving a range of industries in the Indian and
foreign markets. In an exclusive interaction,
Raman Roop Sawhney discusses how the company's
hunger for excellence is making CTMI a name to reckon
with. He also elaborates on how CTMI is gearing up to meet
the growing demand, through significant capacity expansion
at its Bengaluru facility and a new unit overseas.
An interview by
Venugopal Pillai.
Please orient us with the various activities of CTMI in the field of steam turbines.
Being a leading steam turbine manufacturer in India, the refurbishing and servicing are
already a strong forte of CTMI. A unique feature about CTMI is the technical expertise
offered in power plant engineering beyond the turbo-generator sets.
In terms of steam turbines for captive power plants, which industries do you cater to
and which of these do you see as the biggest demand drivers in the medium term?
The industry-wise demand has been mostly cyclical. While the first half of the last
decade was driven by IPPs (independent power producers), the second half was
dominated by steel plants. We see petrochemicals and sugar industry to be the driving
force in the recent future.
We understand that CTMI has developed a special nozzle design that improves the
efficiency of steam turbines. Please elaborate.
Yes. We at CTMI take pride in offering steam turbines which are more efficient in terms
of steam consumption, when compared with other turbine manufacturers. Many such
comparisons have even been well documented. This hunger for excellence is what
drives us to be in constant touch with the advancements in the field of steam turbine
technology through reputed R&D facilities in India and abroad
Tell us about your Hoskote (Bangalore) facility. In view of growing demand, are you
planning any capacity expansion?
Our Hoskote works is spread across 12 acres of land. It has an assembly bay
where several steam turbines are assembled simultaneously. The in-house
manufacturing facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art large and heavyduty
machines. Our latest in-house turbine testing facility enable us to perform no-load test at the rated turbine speed and also the overspeed
trip test.
This helps us in the final fine tuning of our turbine, ensuring
utmost quality of our out-going product. CTMI also boasts of CNC
machining facilities comprising of various CNC machining centers
which have been successfully manufacturing rotor blades and
nozzles for captive consumption.
Our Hoskote works is undergoing tremendous expansion. We
have nearly doubled the area of our assemble bay from 10,000 sq ft
to 19,000 sqft, and large-scale heavy duty machines procured from
UK and Germany are currently under erection.
Chinese players appear to have cornered a significant share of
power equipment in the utilities/IPP segment. What is the scene
with respect to steam turbines for captive power plant
applications?
There is no doubt that the Chinese companies have made some
inroads in recent past mostly because of the low price offered.
However, the non-performance of (Chinese) machines and
subsequently confidence that a consumer (both Indian and
foreign) has on an Indian firm is what will help us even reverse
the trend in the future, both in domestic and export market.
What are the typical challenges that the Indian steam turbine
industry typically faces today?
Raw material availability was a problem earlier but the recent
advancement of Indian companies in the manufacturing sector
has put that problem to rest. The major problem today is the
shortages in skilled manpower both in manufacturing of power
plant equipment and operation and maintenance (O&M) of
power plants.
Tell us about CTMI's export business. Which countries are
you currently catering to and which of these have high
growth potential?
CTMI regularly exports steam turbines and its components to
USA, Fiji, Vietnam, South Korea Argentina, Middle East etc.
Currently we are targeting the European market especially for
the geothermal sector as our turbines are most suitable for the
application.
What are your plans of making equipment for the renewable
energy segment? Do you intend making wind turbine
generators?
CTMI has already executed many biomass-based power plants. As
mentioned earlier, the robust nature of CTMI design makes it an
ideal turbine for geothermal applications and we have recently
developed a prototype turbine ideally suited for solar power
applications. We do not have any plans to venture into wind energy
in the near future.
Please summarize your future plans for CTMI and share the
major corporate milestones that you would like to attain in the
next 5-7 years.
We plan to make CTMI a brand name that is globally competitive.
The opening of our unit in the Middle East is the first step in that
direction. Plans are also underway to venture into EPC of the
complete power plants.