The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) (NYSE:BWC) announced today that the joint venture between its subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. (B&W PGG) and India-based Thermax Ltd. (Thermax), has broken ground on a 699,000-square-foot, $160 million boiler manufacturing plant near Pune, India.

The joint venture formed in 2010 plans to use the facility to fabricate subcritical and supercritical boilers for customers principally in the Indian market. The facility has been designed to produce parts for up to 3,000 megawatts (MWe) of utility boiler capacity per year. Plant construction is scheduled for completion in late 2012.

The joint venture will produce components based on B&W technology for subcritical boilers 300 MWe and larger and supercritical boilers of all sizes - including 660 MWe, 800 MWe and 1,000 MWe.

The new plant will allow the joint venture to better serve the rapidly growing Indian power market, where approximately 20,000 MWe of new coal-fired boilers were ordered in 2010 by independent power producers, state governments and the Indian government.

The Thermax / B&W PGG joint venture is currently bidding on several very large subcritical and supercritical boiler projects in India. The company also has identified additional boiler projects that it may pursue throughout 2011.

"This factory marks a major milestone for our joint venture," B&W PGG President and Chief Operating Officer Richard L. Killion said. "We would like to thank the Indian government and Maharashtra State and local government officials for their efforts to help make this project possible, and we look forward to being an important part of the region's economic development."

About The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a leader in clean energy technology and services, primarily for the nuclear, fossil and renewable power markets as well as a premier advanced technology and mission critical defense contractor. B&W has locations worldwide and employs approximately 12,000 people, in addition to approximately 10,000 joint venture employees. Learn more at www.babcock.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

B&W cautions that statements in this release that are not historical fact may constitute forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the completion and operation of the joint venture manufacturing plant. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, adverse changes in the Indian power market. If these or other risks materialize, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see B&W's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, as supplemented by its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. B&W cautions not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except to the extent required by applicable law.