HARIDWAR: The pious city adopts the IT revolution

Haridwar is situated at the base of the Shivalik hills, where the Ganga, comes down from the mighty Himalayas meets the plains.

Haridwar, literally is 'The gateway to the Gods'. "This place is very beautiful", at one sight one will say so and fall in love with the scenic beauty of the blend of height and plains. 

 Gateway to the four pilgrimage of Uttarakhand, Haridwar is also known as Gangadwar, Tapovan and Mayapuri. In its long history back to pre-historic time, the Haridwar got it name from the rishis. According to the mythology it is known as Kapilsthan, legend goes that the suryavnshi Prince Bhagirath performed penance here to salvage the souls of his ancestors who had perished due to the curse of the sage Kapila. The penance was answered and the river Ganga trickled forth from Lord Shiva's locks and its bountiful waters revived the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara. Mythologically, drops of nectar churned out from the primordial ocean fell at the four sites of the Kumbh mela including Haridwar. The kumbha mela, happening once every 12 years and the Ardha Kumbha Mela (Coming once every six years) are big draws. One of the oldest living cities, Hairdwar has been in people's mind from the period of Buddha to the British advent and now even is the 21st century. Besides being a religious place, it has served as the center for learning arts, science and culture. 

In terms of the IT infrastructure, Haridwar is fast adopting the IT fever. Cyber cafes can be seen often. With a high number of tourist influx, the tourism has incresed the IT buying and education here. Besides this there are a lot new educational institutes that have mushroomed across the city. BHEL's presence in the city also accentuates and drives the IT education in the city. In terms of total buying pattern-Haridwar has a major share of IT buying from various industrial units, home segment is also slowly catching up to the total market pie. IT education institutes also contributes to a major chunk of total IT buying.

Major Buyers


Gurukul Kangdi, Anand Optical & Glass Engg Works, Anu Vidyut, B. H. (India),Â

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (CFFP), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Heep), Empire Industries, Jindal Electronics Pvt Ltd, Metal Aids, National Insulators, Pargon

Instrumentation Engineers Pvt Ltd, R J Industrial Corp, Rai Bahadur Narain Singh Sugar Mills Ltd, Roorkee Industries,

Roorkee Survey & Drawing Syndicate, Sharma Nand & Sons, Tech-Invest (India) Pvt Ltd, Texplas (India) Pvt Ltd, The

Rishabh Velveleen Pvt Ltd, UP Agricultural Industries, Vidyut Carbon Products Pvt Ltd, Vijay Engineers, Vishwakarma

Scales Corpn, Workers Instrument Factory, Yogi Pharmacy Ltd. 

BHEL-The major driver

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise of its kind in India and is one of the leading international companies in the field of power equipment manufacture. The first plant of BHEL was set up at Bhopal in 1956, which signalled the dawn of the Heavy Electrical Industry in India. In the early sixties, three more major plants were set up at Haridwar, Hyderabad and Tiruchirappalli, that form the core of the diversified product range, systems and services that BHEL offers today. BHEL range of services extend from project feasibility studies to after-sales-service successfully meeting diverse needs through turnkey capability. The company has 14 manufacturing units, four power sector regional centers, eight service centers and 18 regional offices besides project sites spread all over India and abroad. The Heavy Electrical Equipment manufacturing facility of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd was set up here in the late 1960s. It has since become the backbone of India's promising power sector. This plant manufactures equipment as mighty in size and power as the sacred Ganga which flows through Haridwar town. 

BHEL's Haridwar plant began life with Russian and Czech technology and later tied up with Siemens AG of Germany for theproduction of high capacity steam turbines and generators. Today, the plant has assimilated Siemens' technology fully and produces turbines and generators of 500 MW capacity. The plant is expecting an order for a 660 MW plant (NTPC, Sipat), the highest rating equipment ever produced in India. 

The facilities here are integrated with capabilities ranging from design and fabrication to final production of turbines and generators. The plant also produces gas and hydro turbines. It is now executing an Rs 850 crore order for the supply of gas turbines to Iraq. This unit contributes 14 percent to BHEL's total turnover, next only to the Tiruchirapalli boiler plant that accounts for a third of BHEL's total turnover. 

In tune with the changing times, the Haridwar plant has been raising its efficiency levels to compete in the market. Margins in this business are thin. The plant has been trying to reduce the production cycle time. For example, the production time of equipment for a 500 MW plant has been brought down to 36 months from the 52 months earlier. The heavy equipment plant alone has a work force of about 7,500 employees. 

The plant now has an outstanding order book of Rs 1,825 crore -- equivalent to two years' turnover. On hand are orders for some high profile projects such as NTPC's Talcher, Ramagundam and Rihand projects and NHPC's Teesta project. In itself, Haridwar plant is a major township in itself besides the Haridwar town.

Major Resellers

Bhalla Business and Education Center 


Bhalla Building, 


Bhalla Road


Haridwar


E-mail: bhalla@nde.vsnl.net.in  


Tel: 426007,420484

Jagga Traders


Ranipur Moar


Arya Nagar


Jwalapur


Haridwar


E-mail: jaggatraders@rediffmail.com  


Tel: 454050

Target Marketing


F-17 Surya Complex


BHEL more


Haridwar 


E-mail: target5@nde.vsnl.net.in  


Tel: 424949,426404

Unique Systems 


F-6 Srishti Complex


BHEL More


Haridwar


Tel: 428258,425507

Kaushik Communications 


Opp. LIC Build. Ranipur More


Haridwar


Tel: 429618