City-based BHPL manufactures key components of Chandrayaan-3
   Date :25-Aug-2023

City-based BHPL manufactures 
 
 
 
 By Kaushik Bhattacharya
as the country is basking in the joy of successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of lunar surface, a
city-based private sector company became part of that epoch-making moment with significant contributions to Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) Chandrayaan-3 mission. Bhagyashri Home Appliances Pvt Ltd (BHPL) in Nagpur has manufactured more than 20 key components for ISRO which were used in Chandrayaan-3 and are now playing key role as it braves the harsh condition on the lunar surface. Nagpur based BHPL has supplied key precision components including external structure of the spacecraft; components used in communication equipment of Chandrayaan 3; radio frequency or microwave components; and electronic housings of the spacecraft. BHPL was founded by Hemant Bhave in 1988. At first, it aimed at helping households monitor their LPG consumption but eventually, the company expanded its profile and became a tier-1 vendor to Mahindra and Mahindra tractors in 1992 and has been associated with M&M FES since then.
 
The company ventured into the aerospace business in 2014, and started manufacturing aero-structure components and aero-engine components. The firm is qualified to supply high precision machine components to ISRO and has been associated with various ISRO centres. BHPL is one of the few in city to hold the AS-9100 Certification since 2018. It is a family-owned business and day-to-day operations are managed by Hemant Bhave, Rashmi Bhave (Finance and Admin) and Prasad Bhave (Aerospace Business). “Supplying key components for this ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission is a matter of great pride for us. This successful mission, that has left a huge imprint on history, has also made us part of history,” Prasad Bhave told ‘The Hitavada’. Prasad Bhave, an IIT Madras alumni, did his B Tech and M Tech in Mechanical Engineering winning a silver medal. He completed MS in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, Atlanta USA). Instead of exploring career opportunities in USA or any other country, Prasad decided to serve his nation in Aerospace technologies. “We have been proudly associated with various ISRO centres since 2014. BHPL has been fortunate to work on several key components and packages not only for Chandrayaan-3 but also for other ambitious projects of ISRO,” said Prasad.
 
BHPL is approved with ISRO centres such as Space Applications Centre (SAC) and U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) for supply of critical precision components. It is currently working on ISRO’s ambitious Aditya L1 mission which is a planned coronagraphy spacecraft to study solar atmosphere. Along with this, the city-based private company is currently working on GSAT satellites which are India’s indigenously developed communications satellites, used for digital audio, data and video broadcasting. “We have also provided major components for many other programmes of ISRO including CARTOSAT-3, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which is also known as NavIC and many more,” said Prasad. “It is a matter of pride for us to serve the nation and in future too, BHPL will assist in projects of such magnitude,” he added.