For the year ending March 31, 2009, the turnover of the Power Sector Southern Region (PSSR) division - which is the engineering, procurement and construction wing of the state-managed Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) - has crossed the Rs. 1,000-crore mark! The precise turnover figures stand at Rs. 1,000.40 crore as compared to the earlier year figures of Rs. 675 crore.

At a Monday press conference, the PSSR Executive Director, PR Shriram - noting that the company's profit before tax in 2008-09 was Rs. 70 crore as against the year before figures of Rs. 96 crore - said that the trivial effect on the financial performance resulted from the "raising cost of inputs" and the wage revision.

Talking about the PSSR orders for the year, Sriram said mentioned new orders worth Rs. 2,919.26 crore, and outstanding orders worth Rs. 4,222 crore. He said that at present PSSR is executing erection and commissioning projects adding up to 15,557 MW; and would increase its 2009-10 investment in high-capacity cranes and heating equipment by two times.

The new orders for the company include 2 x 500 MW Tuticorin thermal power BTG and civil project worth Rs. 861 crore; 2 x 600 MW Malwa thermal power turnkey project worth Rs. 752 crore; 1 x 600 MW North Chennai stage-II (EPC) worth Rs. 556.51 crore.