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Director (Power), BHEL, conferred Eminent Engineer Award 2004

New Delhi, September 16, 2004

Mr. A.K. Puri, Director (Power) of Navratna Public Sector engineering and manufacturing enterprise, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), has been conferred the prestigious Eminent Engineer Award for the year 2004.

Instituted by the Institution of Engineers (India), the award is given annually to engineers for outstanding contribution to the field of engineering in various disciplines viz. electrical, mechanical etc. Comprising a plaque and a citation, the award was presented to

Mr. A.K. Puri by Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission, at a function held here yesterday on the occasion of the 37th Engineers’ Day.

An Electrical Engineer and MBA in Marketing & Finance from Delhi University, Mr. Puri joined BHEL in 1976 after a brief stint in the private sector. During his over 35 years of professional experience, Mr. Puri has made significant contributions in key functions like corporate management, management services, domestic/international marketing, planning, manufacturing etc.

As head of BHEL's manufacturing units at Bangalore, Mr. Puri spearheaded the introduction and assimilation of state-of-the-art technology for controls and instrumentation involving design, production, assembly, testing etc., and the resultant production facilities were set up in record time. Besides being contemporary, the C&I system, being supplied by BHEL, is also capable of carrying out power plant operations from several kilometers away. During this period, BHEL's Electronics Division registered the highest ever turnover and cash inflow, besides reduction in inventory by 45%, helping improve both the bottom and top line.

As a result of a number of new initiatives under his stewardship in BHEL's International Operations Division, there was a phenomenal seven-fold increase in export business in a short span of two years. BHEL bagged several prestigious export orders for against stiff international competition from Oman, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Bangladesh and Zambia.

BHEL also achieved an all-time high order inflow of Rs.12,678 Crore in its Power Sector business in fiscal 2003-04, during Mr. Puri’s tenure as head of marketing, Power Sector.

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