Exclusive research facilities
BHEL HAS an array of sophisticated laboratories and elaborate test facilities at all its plants as well as a separate corporate R&D unit in Hyderabad. Some of the laboratories, such as the ultra high voltage (UHV) laboratory and the centre for electric transportation (CET) are the only such facilities in the country.
The UHV lab, set up in 1979, is one of eight such centres in the world. It was instrumental in helping to set up India's first high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line between Barsoor in Madhya Pradesh and Lower Sileru in Andhra Pradesh. BHEL has also executed in collaboration with ABB the Rihand-Delhi HVDC transmission system, which will form the backbone of the national HVDC grid system.
BHEL's showpiece, however, is CET, which was set up in Bhopal with a $1.25-million grant from the United Nations Development Programme. It evaluates the performance and structural profiles of diesel and electric locomotives using automated simulators. Such facilities are available only in USA, Japan, France and Germany. CET deputy general manager Sujit Madan says, "With CET, BHEL will be able to assist in the development and introduction of technologies for urban transit systems and in improving the efficiency of domestic electric transportation systems." India's first underground railway in Calcutta is equipped with BHEL drives and control.