The French power equipment major, Alstom, may have told its Indian collaborator, BHEL, it (Altsom) has licensed Shanghai Electric Corporation of China to sell super critical boilers only in China and not elsewhere.
Power industry sources point out that when NTPC tendered out for the supply of boilers for the Sipat project – India’s first super critical station of 3 x 660 MW configuration – Alstom had jointly bid with BHEL. At the time, there was no formal collaboration agreement between Alstom and BHEL.
When Doosan of Korea – another Alstom licensee – won the bid, Alstom “made similar noises”, saying that the Korean company could not sell supercritical boilers in India and it would take Doosan to court.
Finally, it made peace with Doosan by accepting an enhanced royalty and some “drawing verification charges”.
Alstom made more money than it would have if BHEL-Alstom had won the bid, says a source familiar to the issue. Indeed, BHEL-Alstom lost the bid because Alstom had quoted a high price for its technology.
Sources say that if Shanghai Electric is embolden to sell supercritical boilers in India, even by IPR violation, it could be because of the confidence that it could replicate the Doosan experience. Should the Government of India allow IPR violations to take place in the country?
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