During the year BEL has increased outsourcing to MSME sector: CMD MV Gowtama

Bengaluru, Apr 3 (KNN) During the year, Bharat Electronics Limited’s (BEL’s) one of the main focusses has been on increased outsourcing to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, BEL's CMD M V Gowtama has said.

Two Bengaluru-based defence PSUs, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) reported record turnovers for year ending March 31, 2017. While HAL has posted the highest ever turnover of Rs 17,406 crore, BEL has reported a 17% increase in its turnover.

In a press note, BEL's CMD said, “During the year, the company's main focus has been on indigenization to achieve self-reliance, capacity building & expansion and increased outsourcing to SME sector."

Also, BEL has been able to maintain good order acquisition this year. These efforts will enable BEL to continue to have sustained growth while effectively addressing future opportunities in defence business, he added.

BEL posted a provisional turnover of Rs 8,800 crore.

It must be noted that state-run defence company BEL’s research and development spend has soared to an all-time high with 10 per cent of revenues going into research. BEL had spent 8.5 per cent of its revenues on R&D, last year.

Apart from this, BEL had also launched collaborative R&D with private SME firms in the country. It has developed over 750 private vendors, a significant number from among MSMEs. More than 40 per cent of input materials are sourced from Indian private industries.

Meanwhile, in a press note, HAL CMD T Suvarna Raju said: "The provisional turnover is at an all-time high. We also contributed around Rs 800 crore to the Government exchequer by way of interim dividend. This is in addition to Rs 162 crore paid as dividend tax. Our profit before tax stood at Rs 3,294 crore."