Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2022

The ‘Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2022’ acknowledges that the coal pithead thermal power projects located in remote areas, hydro power plants located at far flung hilly areas and nuclear power plants located near the sea coast, face very serious problems because of the lack of infrastructure facilities in these areas. This leads to considerable delay in completion of these mega projects. Manufacturers of heavy electrical equipment face serious problems in transporting heavy and Oversized Dimension Consignments (ODC) of more than 98 MT on the state roads and bridges due to non-availability of bridges and roads equipped to carry such heavy weight ODC. There is not much problem in transporting the OD consignments on the national and state highways, but most of the other state and district roads and bridges approaching the project sites are not suitable for transporting heavy consignments. At certain project sites, particularly in case of hydro projects and coal pithead power plants, even motor able roads are not available. For most of the time, transporters are required to strengthen the bridges and roads in order to transport such heavy consignments to the site. This causes delays in movement of items like TG stators, rotor, boiler drums, gas turbines, power transformers, etc., to project sites, affecting commissioning schedules and hence, increasing the cost charged on the manufacturers and power plant developers.

The ‘Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2022’ says that the national and state highways generally do not create any handicap but the state and district roads leading to the identified projects need to be widened or constructed and bridges need to be strengthened. If these roads and bridges are constructed by the developer, then it takes longer since there are multiple procedures that need to be completed (IPP i.e. Independent Power Producer has to conduct survey of the route, carry out geological surveys, get alignment approved, acquire land and then construct the road. If the road passes through a forest, then forest clearance has to be obtained.) These procedures can easily take more than one year for a small stretch of road, resulting in project delays.

The ‘Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2022’, which was recently launched by Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Shri Praful Patel, has pointed out that most of the hydro projects are identified by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) before being advertised for bidding, though total capacity, as well as unit size of individual projects, may vary at detailed project report / CEA concurrence stage. Since the capacity of such projects and the unit sizes are generally known, CEA may develop a mechanism so that data regarding ODC can be collected by the concerned State Government. Based on the same, the size of road and types of bridges can be decided and the concerned State Government can approach the Central Government, if needed, for funding of the construction of the desired roads and bridges after consulting the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The ‘Mission Plan 2022’ recommends that States should be provided funds for construction of these roads and bridges before the bid process is initiated. This will enable the developers to move the construction machinery faster and the construction will start immediately. The cost of such project-specific roads and the overhead costs can be recovered from the IPP by the State Government. If this is indicated in the bid, then IPPs will take this cost into consideration for the bidding. The cost of such roads is not going to be high but this initiative can save almost one to two years of the project schedule and in turn, benefit the states too.

 The Mission Plan seeks to steer, coordinate and synergise the efforts of all stakeholders to accelerate and sustain the growth of the domestic electrical equipment industry. It identifies five key areas for action: (i) Industry competitiveness; (ii) Upgrading technology; (iii) Skill development; (iv) Promotion of exports; and (v) Conversion of latent demand.

Detailed recommendations have been formulated for strategic and policy interventions in these five critical areas that need to be addressed by the industry, with support from the government.

Further,  the Mission Plan envisages to make India the country of choice for the production of electrical equipment and reach an output of US $100 billion by balancing imports and exports. It has been evolved by the Department of Heavy industry through an elaborate exercise involving all stakeholders and with the support of the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA).

To carry forward the recommendations arising out of the Mission Plan, Inter-Ministerial Groups, comprising of representatives of the Department of Heavy Industry and other concerned Ministries / Departments, IEEMA, industry and other stakeholders will be constituted for monitoring the implementation of the recommendations and for periodic follow-up of its status.

To enhance industry competitiveness, the Mission Plan calls for providing a level playing field in the country to domestic electrical equipment manufacturers vis-à-vis foreign manufacturers, replacing the L1 criteria of procurement by power utilities in India with two part bidding, augmenting domestic testing facilities to cover the type testing of all equipment, mandating type testing of imported small equipment in Indian labs, supporting SMEs in technology up gradation and testing, standardization of product ratings and specifications of electrical equipment, providing funds at globally competitive rates of interest to domestic manufacturers, establishing clusters of electrical and component manufacturers and providing them funds for technology up gradation.

For technology up gradation, the Mission Plan recommends a coordinated and collaborative effort by industries and utilities. For any R&D project, the user organization or main beneficiary should be supported by the government for leading the research in a planned and committed manner. It also recommends public-private partnership (PPP) for fast development of new technology / systems.