After a gap of ten years, GE Power India has restarted work on the mega Subansiri hydropower project, which was stifled by agitation at the project site.
In a release, GE Power India said that it has received the “go-ahead” from project owner NHPC Ltd to resume work on the 2,000-mw Subansiri hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh.
The contract to supply the entire electro-mechanical package for the 8×125-mw project was placed on GE Power India (then known as Alstom Power) way back in 2005. The contract was then valued at Rs.1,550 crore. Work on the project was put on hold in December 2011 following local agitation.
GE Power India said that it is conducting an internal assessment of the contract as there has been significant cost increase in material, erection and commissioning. GE Power India has estimated margin deterioration of around Rs.87.6 crore from the Subansiri contract, and is pursuing claims with NHPC to mitigate the margin impact.
Also read : NHPC Takes Over Second Hydropower Project Through NCLT Route
Performance in Q1 of FY22
Meanwhile, GE Power India reported an order inflow of Rs.238.3 crore in the April-June quarter of FY22. This was significantly lower than Rs.532.1 crore in the same period of FY21. However, order inflows in Q1 of FY21 were dominated by a single order (of around Rs.292) relating to the Kundah pumped storage scheme in Tamil Nadu.
GE Power India also witnessed a significant change in the composition of order inflows in Q1 of FY22. Service orders accounted for the entire order inflow in Q1 of FY22 as against just 21 per cent in Q1 of FY21. (The remaining 79 per cent in Q1FY21 were “new build” orders.) Also, the entire order inflow in Q1 of FY22 was EPC orders. This share was 75 per cent in the same quarter of FY21. In terms of ownership, government orders had a dominant share of 69 per cent in Q1 of FY22, as against 32 per cent in Q1 of FY21.
As of June 30, 2021, the outstanding order book of GE Power India stood at Rs.5,180.6 crore.
GE Power India witnessed a healthy growth of over 25 per cent in revenues that rose to Rs.540.4 crore in Q1 of FY22 from Rs.432.0 crore in Q1 of FY21. The company realized significant revenue from flue-gas desulphurization (FGD) orders this year.
Featured photograph shows unfinished construction work on the Subansiri dam site that was in an abandoned state for around ten years till December 2020 when project owner NHPC gave the “go ahead” to resume construction. It may be noted that GE Power India is not involved with the project’s civil works. (Photo Source: Keith Schneider/Circle of Blue/scroll.in)
