Indian orders for Chinese power equipment total $ 7 bn

Chinese companies are building $ 7 bn worth of power plant equipment for customers in India, in a business that is underpinning growing trade between Asia's second and third largest economies.
Chinese producers are processing orders from India for 20 GW of boilers, turbines and generators, the main equipment in a power station, according to Lloyd's Register, which provides third-party assurance certification services for the power business.

"India and China both need each other for growth. There's huge demand on the Indian side and there's huge supply available on the Chinese side -- and that is creating a big opportunity for trade," said Swaminathan Krishnaswamy, vice-president for India chemicals and power and Sino-India business development at Lloyd's Register.
The main Chinese suppliers include Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric and Harbin Electric. Indian buyers include industrial groups Reliance, Essar, Adani, KSK Industries, JSW Energy and Jindal Steel & Power.

India's main producer of boilers and other large equipment, Bharat Heavy Electrical, has been overwhelmed with orders. It has capacity for only about 10 GW of power equipment a year compared with the government's target for the five years ending 2012 to build power plants with capacity of 78 GW, forcing India to look to China to help fill the gap.
Another reason many Indian groups are buying Chinese power equipment is that they are able to deliver much more quickly than indigenous groups. Chinese producers can deliver equipment for a 4 GW facility in about 18 months, up to 30 % quicker than their Indian counterparts. This is important when India is facing an annual power deficit between output and demand of about 9-13 %.