Areva's capacity expansion plans on stream

New Delhi: Areva T&D India said that its capacity expansion plans were on stream.

By end March the company would be commissioning its three new facilities involving an investment of Rs 700 crore. The facilities under way are at Padappai and Hosur in Tamil Nadu and Vadodra in Gujarat and “would help to double the company’s volumes in the next three years”.

Promising “good surprises” in the quarterly results due next month, Mr Rathin Basu, Country President and Managing Director of the company, said despite the foggy economic scenario there was no slow down in tenders in the utilities side of the business.

Mr Basu said though load in distribution transformers could be hit due to the downturn in the infrastructure sector, the power transformer business would continue its growth trajectory. “There are indications that the T&D industry, which was roughly growing at 20 per cent, may come down by 10 per cent,” he said.

Where Areva T& D was concerned, Mr Basu said its order backlog was robust. “We have more than one year in the refrigerator,” he said.

The company, according to him, even during this slow down has not witnessed any major deferments that could disturb its revenue stream. And though there has been difficulty in payments by some customers, December had been one of their best months for cash collection.