Bharat Forge Ltd has announced that on February 08, 2008, the Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NTPC Ltd, to set up a Joint Venture Company for its foray into the Capital Goods sector.

The MOU was signed in Delhi by Mr. T Sarikaralingam, Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC Ltd and Mr. B N Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd in the presence of senior officials of the Ministry of Power, members of the Board & Senior Management of NTPC. The JV is set to be incorporated as a private limited Company with Bharat Forge holding a majority stake in the joint venture.

The Joint Venture will initially be engaged in manufacturing forgings, castings, casings, fittings and high pressure piping’s required for Power and other industries, Balance of Plant (BOP) equipment for the power sector etc. and will induct techn1ogy related strategic partners where ever needed. The Company would also manufacture other power plant equipments & machinery, in due course.

The joint venture will invest in manufacturing large forgings & castings for high value, critical components such as rotor shafts, components for turbo generators and other capital goods, which currently constitute strategic bottlenecks from a national capacity building point of view causing major slow down in execution. These components require an extremely high degree of metallurgical technology and process know-how. Bharat Forge and the Kalyani Group have vast, experience in metal forming, Metallurgical and related technology and the group therefore, will bring to the table unique mix of comprehensive capabilities to manufacture these sophisticated components in the new venture, thereby filling a much needed gap in the nations critical sector.

Commenting on the joint venture, Mr. B N Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd., said that “we have been present in this sector for the last 25 years but in a small way. The joint venture is basically to further strengthen our strategy of getting into the capital goods sector”. I am confident that our partnership with NTPC will prove momentous in changing the power sector landscape not only in India but also in the region, he added.

NTPC Ltd is the largest power generation Company having large expertise and strength in areas such as setting up, operation & maintenance of power projects and sale of power to various state power utilities and other bulk customers. NTPC has developed comprehensive in-house expertise in various facets of power generation from concept to commissioning, efficient operation to nurturing of ecology and environment in accordance with National Power Policy of Govt. of India.