Public sector power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has accused Chinese power equipment makers of grabbing equipment supply contract for mega power projects by resorting to dumping.

K Ravi Kumar, chairman and managing director, BHEL, said there was a price difference of up to 20 per cent and the Chinese valuation was also not as per international competition, as the Chinese currency was under-valued.

He, however, said there was no need to take up the issue very aggressively, saying "We need not go and fight with the Chinese. We don't want 100 per cent market share." He said a 60-per cent market share with enough profits is what BHEL was aiming at.

Kumar also said BHEL's upcoming joint venture with NTPC Ltd, which is likely to be incorporated by first week of April, would also help it in maintaining its market share.

"We are going for another company to take the 40 per cent market. To prevent Chinese competition, Russian competition or Korean companies, we are going for another company with NTPC," Kumar said.

At the same time, he said, BHEL was not complacent at all even with an order book of over Rs82,000 crore. "We have to improve upon this and we are working in that direction," he said, adding that BHEL's technical tie-up with Alstom was in a position to take on the Chinese companies.

In terms of performance, BHEL's equipment was superior and referred to independent studies to establish that the plant load factor of its projects was 90 per cent, while that of its Chinese rivals was only 60 per cent.

He said BHEL's 500 MW sets could be operated at 525 MW without any problem, while the quality of the Chinese equipment had yet to be established over an extended period.

Declining to move the government on this saying that BHEL was prepared for competition from China, Kumar and said that BHEL had managed to almost
close the price gap with the Chinese manufacturers.

"We are very competitive with the competition," he said, adding that BHEL had an advantage in providing a complete solution for any project as against product leaders like Siemens and GE and cost leaders like Chinese companies. 

He said that Siemens manufactured only turbo generators and GE manufactured turbines, while BHEL "manufactures everything under one umbrella". Therefore, he said BHEL would remain a leader on home turf.