BEL posts 6% growth in FY20 turnover at Rs 12,500 crore

Public sector defence undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) on Wednesday posted a turnover in excess of Rs 12,500 crore (Provisional & Unaudited) during the Financial Year 2019-20. The company had a growth of 6% over the previous year's turnover of Rs 11,789 crore.

BEL's order book as on April 1, 2020, stood at Rs 51,800 crore. The year saw BEL securing significant orders worth Rs 13,000 crore, the company said in a statement. Some of the major orders acquired during the year are Akash (7 Sqdn), Coastal Surveillance Systems (CSS), Upgrade for EW system, Radars, AMCs for Radars & Weapon Systems, Software Defined Radio (SDR), Sonars, Advanced Communication Systems, etc.

Some of the flagship projects executed during FY 2019-20 are Command & Control Systems, Thermal Imagers for tanks, Upgrade of communication system, Land Based EW systems, Weapon Repair Facility, Electronic Fuzes, various Radars, Smart City Projects, Delhi CCTV project, Schilka Upgrade, Avionics Package for LCA, Classroom Jammers, Real Time Information System for Railways and LRSAM.

BEL achieved export sales of $48.59 million during FY 2019-20. Major products exported include Cable Looms, Coastal Surveillance System Spares, Radar, Compact Multi-Purpose Advanced Stabilization System (CoMPASS), Electro Mechanical parts, etc.

BEL’s Chairman & Managing Director, M V Gowtama, said, "The global lockdown due to COVID-19 and the economic slowdown had some impact on BEL during the last month of the last quarter of FY 2019-20. Execution/acceptance of some of the major projects could not be completed due to Force Majeure which otherwise would have further contributed to BEL’s revenues during FY 2019-20 itself.”

However, BEL remained focused on the enhancement of its capabilities and competitiveness through diversification, continuous modernisation, indigenisation and outsourcing to Indian industries with increased thrust on the MSME sector.