BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking which manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and mining. It is headquartered in Bangalore. BEML is Asia's second-largest manufacturer of earth moving equipment.[5] Its stock trades on the National Stock Exchange of India under the symbol "BEML", and on the Bombay Stock Exchange under the code "500048".[6]
History
BEML incorporated in 11th May 1964, with the help of the Soviet Union.[7] It was wholly owned by the government and operated by India's Ministry of Defence until 1992, when the government divested 25% of its holdings in the company. The company went for Follow-on Public offer (FPO) in 2007 and fixed the price band for its FPO between ₹1,020 and ₹1,090.[8] The Government of India had given 'in-principle' approval for strategic disinvestment of BEML Ltd. to the extent of 26% out of the Government shareholding of 54.03% with transfer of management control to strategic buyer.[9]
Manufacturing facilities
BEML has manufacturing plants in Kolar Gold Fields, Bangalore, Mysore and Palakkad. It has numerous regional offices throughout the country. KGF unit is the main unit accounting for the manufacture and assembly of a wide array of earth-moving equipment such as bulldozers and excavators. Railcoaches are made in the Bengaluru complex, and the Mysore facility makes dump trucks and engines of various capacity. On 10 August 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the industrial design centre (IDC) at BEML Bengaluru, aiming to integrate research and development with manufacturing.[10]
Products
BEML manufactures a wide range of products to meet the needs of mining, construction, power, irrigation, fertiliser, cement, steel and rail sectors. The earthmoving equipment includes bulldozers, dump trucks, hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, rope shovels, walking draglines, motor graders and scrapers.
BEML has recently introduced road headers and slide discharge Loaders for underground mining applications. Railway products include integral railcoaches, electric multiple units, rail buses, track-laying equipment and overhead equipment inspection Cars. BEML manufactures heavy-duty trucks and trailers and hydraulic aggregates for the transportation sector.
The company also manufactures high power diesel engines and heavy duty hydraulic aggregates to meet specific customer requirements. The company plans to diversify into varied activities including underground mining equipment, underground storage for petro-products, leasing and financial services and joint ventures abroad.[citation needed]
Mining & Construction equipment
BEML is India's leading mining & construction equipment manufacturer and Asia's second largest equipment company,
BEML offers diverse range of mining machinery for both opencast and underground mining.
BEML manufactures machines such as Hydraulic Excavators, Bulldozers, Wheel loaders, Dump Trucks, Motor Grades, Pipe Layers, Tyre handler, Backhoe Loaders, Electric Shovels, Load Haul Dumpers etc.
BEML plays a key role in the country's Integrated Guided Missile Development Project by supplying ground support vehicle.
A new Aerospace division was launched during Aero India 2009.The division manufactures Ground support equipment such as Aircraft Towing Tractor, Aircraft Weapon Loading Trolley, Multi-purpose Weapon Loaders and Crash Fire Tender.
DATRAN 1500
The DATRAN 1500 engine, which is being developed for the Futuristic Main Battle Tank program had its first testing in 2023. On 20 March 2024, 1500 hp prototype engine was again successfully tested at BEML's Mysuru facility. The engine has electronic control, self-cleaning air filter, CRDifuel injection system, and electronic warning control. In addition, the engine has a high power-to-weight ratio and can run in a variety of harsh environments, such as 5,000 meters or more above sea level, in sub-zero temperature of -40°C, and up to +55°C in a hot desert environment. Twenty such engines, with an emphasis on technology stabilization, will be produced in 2024 and put through additional testing to evaluate their performance, robustness, and dependability. The project is expected to be finished by the middle of 2025.[11][12]
BEML Limited's Rail Coach Factory situated in Bangalore, India is the first all steel integrated rail coach factory established by Government of India during 1948. This factory was established to indigenously manufacture the passenger rail coach for Indian Railways.[14]
BEML manufactures rolling stock for Indian Railways as well as for metros since 1980's.[15] BEML has supplied more than 200 coaches to DMRC and has an order of 150 coaches from Bengaluru Metro. BEML has independently supplied about 140 cars to DMRC using transfer of technology from Hyundai ROTEM. Jaipur Metro has also ordered to manufacture, supply, test and commission 10 train sets of four cars each, totaling 40 cars to the Jaipur Metro Project.
BEML Limited has bagged a contract from the Railway Board for design, manufacturing, supply, testing and commissioning of rakes of some stainless steel AC Electrical Multiple Unit (SSEMU) coaches worth Rs 31 crore.[16]
BEML has started supplying metro train sets to the East West corridor of Kolkata Metro (KMRCL). Present order in hands from KMRCL is for 14 train sets of six cars each.
BEML receives letter of acceptance (LoA) for design, manufacture and commissioning of 10 Trainsets (Sleeper) on Vande Bharat platform. The total value of order is Rs 675 crore.[17]
BEML is one of the leading manufacturers of rail and metro coaches. Metro systems using BEML rolling stock are:
Ground support vehicles for guided missile programme
Heavy, medium and light recovery vehicles
50T trailer for tank transportation
Mil rail coaches and mil wagons
Apart from the above, Railway parts and aggregates are planned for manufacture
Vignyan Industries, a subsidiary located at Tarikere (around 300 km from Bengaluru) - steel castings
Management
Shri M V Rajasekhar has been the CMD of BEML Ltd since 1 Feb 2021 after the superannuation of Dr D K Hota the predecessor CMD.[18]
Competitors
The main competitor for BEML is in the private sector who has its own manufacturing units in India, thus participating in the 'Make in India' initiative.The major source of income of BEML comes from Mining equipment.
Arjun ARRV Armored vehicle manufactured by collaboration of BEML and CVRDE
BEML manufactures DRDO designed HMV, Arjun ARRV, Mobile Standby Command Post Vehicle(MSCPV) and Czech Tatra trucks and rebadges them under license.[19]
A probe into an alleged scam in the purchase of Tatra trucks for the Indian Army led to the suspension of the then-BEML chief by the Defence Ministry.[20]
Trailers
BEML BD50 bulldozer loaded on a BEML 20T trailer displayed at defense expo 2020 in Lucknow.
20 T
20 Ton capacity 8 wheeled lowboy trailer developed for transportation of construction equipments on rough train. Can be coupled with tractor via 4 wheeled dolly.[21]
50T
50 Ton capacity 24 wheeled lowboy trailers developed for transportation of mid-weight tanks on rough train. Can be coupled with tractor via 8 wheeled jeep dolly.[22]
^"BEML 20T trailer"(PDF). Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"BEML 50T trailer"(PDF). Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"BEML 70T trailer"(PDF). Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
₹3,077.37 crore (US$390 million) (2020)[2]
₹153.20 crore (US$19 million) (2020)[2]
