Jharkhand's hydel and thermal stations and steel plants include cranes that are decades old. Often the structure outlasts the machinery and the controls. eliteMHE Industries Pvt Ltd refurbished one such crane for BHEL: a double girder powerhouse crane, in service since 1959, at the DVC Panchet hydel station in Dhanbad district. We serve Jharkhand from Anand, Gujarat; we have no office in the state.
The Panchet crane at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Customer | BHEL, for the Unit 1 refurbishment at DVC Panchet |
| Crane | Double girder powerhouse EOT crane, in service since 1959 |
| Hoists | Two main hoists of 112.5 T and two auxiliary hoists of 25 T |
| Span | 19.8 m |
| Lifting beam | 225 T, designed and fabricated by us |
What we did at Panchet
Work done
- Refurbished the hoist machinery and modified the brakes.
- Replaced three long-travel wheels and one pair of gear teeth in a main hoist gearbox that inspection showed to be worn.
- Fitted new electrical panels and controls.
- Overload tested the 225 T beam at 1.25 times its safe working load (SWL), witnessed by the customer and its inspection agencies.
- Load tested the four hooks, with a statutory test certificate issued.
Result
BHEL signed its handing-over certificate on 27 January 2025, and the crane has worked continuously since May 2024. In February 2026 the generator rotor, about 225 T with beam and slings, was lifted from the assembly bay and lowered onto the shaft. The joint BHEL and DVC meeting record describes the operation as satisfactory, and as-built drawings were handed over.
What Panchet suggests for older cranes
- Assess before you decide. Check structure, wheels and gearboxes first. At Panchet, inspection found worn wheels and gear teeth.
- Ask for as-built drawings. The next engineer needs them.
- Keep the statutory records. Test certificates and reports belong on the crane's file.
Statutory examination in Jharkhand
Section 29 of the Factories Act, 1948 requires a competent person to examine lifting machines and lifting tackle thoroughly at least once in every 12 months. In Jharkhand the examination is recorded in the equivalent statutory examination report under the state Factories Rules. We load test at 100% and 125% of SWL, with our own test loads up to 400 T, and arrange the report through an authorised competent person. See load test and Form 10.
Other cranes in Jharkhand
Steel-plant and workshop cranes need the same discipline: a health check, then repair, modernization or replacement. We service cranes of any make anywhere in India, and build double girder EOT cranes up to 300 T, with spans up to 40 m and lifting heights up to 50 m.
For the steel and power belts of neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh, see our Odisha and Chhattisgarh pages. A 1968 powerhouse crane refurbished at Kodayar is on our Tamil Nadu page.
Questions about powerhouse cranes
- Can a crane from 1959 be refurbished instead of replaced?
- Often yes, after assessment. The Panchet crane, in service since 1959, was refurbished and has worked continuously since May 2024.
- How is a lifting beam tested?
- By an overload test against an approved test plan, with witnesses present. Our 225 T beam was tested at 1.25 times its SWL.
- What is a tandem lift?
- Two hoists share one load. The lift plan states the load on each hook and how the hoists are matched. At Panchet a tandem trial was carried out with the two main hoists.
- What should I send about an old crane?
- Nameplate details, year of manufacture, span, hoist capacities, any drawings, the last statutory examination report and a note of what fails.
To discuss a powerhouse or plant crane in Jharkhand, send its make, capacity and location through our contact page, and we will propose an assessment first.