State of the art technology coupled with design innovation helped overcome significant terrain, engineering and financial challenges, resulting in a successful completion of the project and provision of irrigation and drinking water to a large population of rural farmers in the state.

In recognition, Kirloskar Brothers was recognized with a Technology Innovation award by the Government of Gujurat as well as a US Patent.

The primary challenge was to negotiate the difficult topography in the largest branch canal of the Narmada Project canal system and ensure a continuous and smooth flow of water for irrigation requirements in over 4,000 drought affected towns and villages in the ascending Saurashtra region.

To overcome this challenge, KBL designed the world's largest pumping scheme which included three power stations and five pumping stations.

Faced by the additional challenge of a vacuum created in the curvature of the pipeline which reduced the flow of water, Pro/ENGINEER was used to conduct a volume analysis, design and develop a prototype of the siphon and accurately determine the exact placement of the siphon on the pump.

The successful completion of this project resulted in enriching the lives of thousands of people living in over 4,000 drought affected villages in the Saurashtra and Kutch region by providing drinking water, hydroelectric power and irrigation across 5.4 lakh hectares of land.

The innovative siphon design enabled a significant saving of power, cost and also increased the operational efficiency of the plant. The energy savings resulting from using the innovative concept is expected to save energy units of 8.6 MW that corresponds to approximately $5 Million USD per year.

The project was conceptualized, designed, executed and commissioned under the leadership of Shri Ramesh K. Srivastava, director, Kirlsokar Brothers Ltd.

"The Narmada Project saw KBL faced with a never before seen technological challenge. With a combination of research, innovation and team work, combined with the best of breed CAD technology of PTC's Pro/ENGINEER, KBL's Engineering division was able to successfully overcome this challenge," said Dr. J T Kshirsagar, vice president, corporate research and engineering division, Kirloskar Brothers Limited.

"The most significant result of this project has been the enrichment of the lives of thousands of people living in over 4,000 drought affected villages in the area, while also lowering operating costs of the system."

"We are pleased to be a part of this social initiative with Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. With the successful completion of the Saurashtra Branch Canal project, PTC has reiterated its commitment to providing best in class solutions that not only address the business needs of our customers, but also enable them to overcome unique technological and innovation challenges," said Mr. Rafiq Somani, country manager, PTC India.

"We are particularly proud to be associated with a project that has such a major impact on the lives and livelihood of thousands of farmers."

KBL has been a pioneer in conducting research in order to provide fluid handling solutions, achieve technological break through using advanced computational and experimental techniques and develop reliable and state of the art products.

The company has engineered large vertical energy efficient pumps and concrete volume pumps for power projects, water supply and irrigation schemes and Hydel Turbines for small Hydel power projects. It also holds the distinction of being the only pump manufacturing company in India to have manufactured canned motor pumps for hazardous chemicals in nuclear plants.

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