Voltas Limited

Pumping up performance
Exciting business prospects are in the pipeline for Voltas Water Management & Treatment
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Already known for being a total solutions provider for both turnkey pumping projects as well as pollution control tasks, Voltas Water Management & Treatment, since 2000, has been expanding its focus into major electro-mechanical pumping projects, with core focus on:

City / town water supply pumping and sewage treatment projects
Thermal, nuclear and hydroelectric power pumping projects
Steel, fertilizers, chemicals, cement, paper and other industrial water and effluent treatment projects.

In all of these, true to Voltas' operational style and skill-sets, the full spectrum of services is offered, from concept design to application engineering, electro-mechanical equipment selection, sizing and engineering, management, erection, commissioning and after-sales service. And that involvement continues for the lifetime of the plant.

Additional growth prospects lie in refurbishment and retrofitting of large-sized old pumps of any make, in use at water projects, power stations, steel plants and other industrial sectors; spare parts supply and overhauling; and operating and maintaining pumping plants.

There's eminent scope for synergies, such as through partnering agreements with major electro-mechanical contractors for power and water projects; and with Voltas Electro-Mechanical Division for turnkey domestic projects in these sectors. Exports too hold good scope, for pumps as well as projects.

The flow of history
Voltas' build-up of pumping technology expertise began from the Company's earliest days in the 1950s, when a range of pumps from Sulzer of Switzerland was imported and engineered into varied pumping systems and applications.

To provide a larger range of pumps, built to the highest engineering standards, and tailor-made to customer specifications, Voltas entered into a technical collaboration with Sulzer Pumps in 1992, to manufacture pumps at its Thane plant. Commercial production of Sulzer's latest lines went on stream in 1994, and grew to encompass a range of exclusive in-house designed pumps as well.

Precision and performance - in both horizontal split casing and vertical pumps - were assured through advanced computer-aided design and engineering, as well as modern manufacturing and assembly facilities and quality assurance. A sophisticated test bed was inaugurated in 1993, capable of putting huge pumps - of up to 20,000 cu.m./hr and 1500 KW power - through rigorous drills.

ISO 9001 certification was won in August 1996. Equally telling is the fact that Voltas pumps were deemed suitable for import by Sulzer, thus meeting the ultimate goal of technology absorption.

Professionalism in purification
In the 70s, Voltas entered one of the most pressing application areas of the day - environmental protection. A collaboration agreement was signed in 1977 with Ames Crosta Babcock of UK (currently known as Biwater) for waste-water treatment know-how. During the decade when the collaboration was active, Voltas acquired specialised capabilities in this field through the execution of several major effluent treatment plants around the country - from Hotel Centaur in Kashmir to the KSDP in Alleppy, Kerala, from IOC Dighboi in the East to Color Chem, Roha in the West.

The focus is primarily on:

new industrial projects that are required to adhere to stringent water pollution norms
effluent treatment projects for the re-use of process water in a wide range of industries
retrofitting and refurbishing of older plants to meet current parameters in both efficiency and pollution control
improvement of existing plants to achieve better performance and energy savings.

It's a wide focus indeed, covering drinking water projects and sewage treatment plants, as well as industrial projects in sectors that include textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, distilleries, sugar plants and refineries.

Overseas, critical equipment and expertise have been supplied to projects in Egypt, the Middle East, Mauritius, Bangladesh and Nepal (for our northern neighbour's very first sewage treatment plant).

The Water Pollution Control Group manufactures virtually the full range of necessary equipment to suit the particular needs of any given project, such as the Reactor Clarifier for Reliance Hazira, and a DAF system for the Chemical Industrial Association's plant in Ahmedabad. Its aerators have earned a special place in the market, with Voltas having sold more aerators (nearly 300,000 HP) than any of its competitors in India.

Power professionalism
The series of repeat orders placed with Voltas by Tata Electric Companies testifies to their confidence in the company's capabilities. These orders are for horizontal split casing and vertical turbine pumps to be used in hydro and thermal power projects. These include the Khopoli Power Project, the Bhivpuri Hydro Power Project, the Kundli Pumped Storage, and the Jojobera Thermal Power Station near Jamshedpur.

The Kundli Pumped Storage plan embodied a long-standing vision of TEC, to store the water of the Kundli river in the Valwahan Dam at Lonavala, by constructing a dam at Shirwata, about 55 km. away, and transferring the water by gravity through a tunnel at Somwadi.

TEC worked in close tandem with Voltas to implement a unique fast-track pumping scheme in 1999, completing the job well before the onset of the monsoon, and initially transferring 20 mln. cubic metres of water to the Valwahan Dam. The success of Phase 1 led to TEC's awarding Phase II as well to Voltas, in a project involving even larger-sized Voltas Sulzer horizontal pumps and associated equipment.

First for thirst
To cater to drinking water needs in several districts, the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Gandhinagar, placed one of the largest orders booked by Voltas in this business. Valued at Rs 87.5 million, and won against stiff competition from no less than 13 other bidders, the scope of work includes design, engineering, procurement, construction, installation, testing and commissioning work.

The equipment encompasses 6 Voltas-Sulzer vertical turbine pumps, 10 horizontal split case pumps, all related mechanical equipment (such as motorised valves, MS pipes, EOT cranes etc), all related electrical equipment (including transformers, auxiliary transformers, HT switchgears, supply and laying of cabling and earthing), construction of civil pumphouse for horizontal pumps, and total instrumentation. A harbinger indeed of future dominance in municipal water supply projects on a turnkey basis.

TISCO triumph
Another prestigious order was the Rs 33 million contract for the recirculating pumphouse which forms part of TISCO Jamshedpur's ambitious Rs 17000 million Cold Rolling Mill project. The contract covers design, supply, installation and commissioning of: 19 horizontal split case pumps, 4 smaller pumps, motors/diesel engines, related mechanical equipment, electrically operated valves, mild steel piping work inside the pumphouse; complete electrical equipment including sub-station, load centre-cum-MCC, transformers, cabling and earthing; programmable logic controllers suitable for automatic operation of the system; and ventilation system.

Clearer Kolkata water
The arsenic-affected 24 Parganas area of West Bengal received heartening news, with the award of a turnkey water supply pumping project to Voltas, from the W Bengal government, for supply of clear water. The contract is for seven Voltas horizontal pumps, encompassing supply, installation and commissioning of pipelines, valves, motor control panels, capacitor banks, instrumentation, operation and maintenance.

Best by test
Three Voltas-Sulzer vertical pumps were performance tested at Voltas' state-of-the-art test bed in Thane. The pumps were part of a Rs 61.3 million order from BHEL Industrial Systems Group, Bangalore, for the Navali Lift Irrigation Project of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd, Karnataka.

The contract involves supply of three Voltas-Sulzer vertical pumps coupled with BHEL motors; as well as three hydraulically operated butterfly valves and a 1.68 km long pipeline with expansion joints. Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd is the consultant for this project.

Orissa order
A strictly deadline-bound order from National Aluminium Company, Orissa, was met in record time. Voltas was required to supply cooling water and auxiliary cooling water pumping systems for the client's seventh captive power project of 120 MW. The scope of work entailed three Voltas Sulzer cooling water pumps, two auxiliary Voltas Sulzer pumps, EOT crane, chlorination and chemical dosing system, valves, piping, gates, PLC system etc. All of the above were performance-tested at full load and dispatched in a record 6 months' time, to the full satisfaction of all concerned - a recurring outcome of Voltas' efforts in project after project.