Bhel was in the limelight on Thursday on good buying support. The stock of the power equipment major were up by 2.33% to Rs 178.05 on the BSE in afternoon trades.

Earlier in the session, the stock hit a high of Rs 179.60. A total of 350,000 lakh shares changed hands on the counter by first half of the session.

Bharat Heavy Electricals stock has witnessed a sustained rise since the last few sessions. From a recent low of Rs 163.10 on 18 December 2002, the scrip has gained 9.1% in a few weeks to the current Rs 178.05. From an earlier low of Rs 145.55 on 1 November 2002, the scrip in two-and-half months has gained 22.3%.

Dealers said the stock has witnessed good buying support. Also, it is fundamentally sound, they said, adding that the state-run power equipment major has a strong order book position.

Earlier this month, Bhel announced the commissioning of its first ever state-of-the-art 159 mega watt gas turbine in Iraq. Bhel commissioned the unit for General Company Electrical Project, a Government of Iraq undertaking.

Bhel is in the process of installing three more similar rated units at the Baiji power plant. It achieved a breakthrough by securing this largest ever export order, cumulatively valued at Rs 870 crore. This order had been placed on Bhel by GCEP, under the United Nations 'Oil for Food' programme.

Late last month, Bhel bagged a Rs 16-crore order from SCM Sugars for setting up a steam turbine generator at the latter's Kotta factory in Karnataka. The project will be commissioned in 14 months time. Just a few days before that, Bhel bagged a $74 million order to set up an 800-MW hydro electric project for National Hydro Electric Power Corp. The project is expected to be completed in 52 months.

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 Centre has decided to sell 17% equity stake in Bhel to bring down its holding in the company to 51%, from 67.7%. The heavy industry ministry has given its concurrence to the proposal for divesting 17% stake to the public, financial institutions and employees.

In Q2 ended 30 September 2002, Bhel reported a 26% drop in net profit to Rs 108.54 crore (Rs 1.08 billion) on a 10.5% fall in sales to Rs 1,289.13 crore (Rs 12.89 billion).