Vayu: Can
you tell us how BEL is helping the Government realise the dream of an
Atmanirbhar Bharat?
BEL, since inception, has been
working towards achieving self-reliance. Responding to the clarion call by the
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, BEL has recalibrated its efforts and is
strongly promoting the Government's Make in India initiative by laying strong
thrust on in-house R&D and indigenisation, Public-Private Partnerships,
Joint Ventures, capacity expansion and modernisation.
The Akash Air Defence Weapon System
of BEL is a great success story and shining example of BEL's indigenous design,
development and manufacturing drive. The Coastal Surveillance System developed
by BEL for the Indian Coast Guard is now being offered to other friendly
countries as well as for generating export business. The Weapon Locating Radar,
developed indigenously by BEL and DRDO lab LRDE, and its lighter version
designed for surveillance in mountainous and high-altitude terrains are proving
to be game-changers for India’s military.
To ensure that we stay at the
forefront of innovation, we invested 6.24% of our turnover in R&D last year
and, as a result, achieved 77% of our turnover in FY 2023-24 from indigenous
products. Increasing the level of indigenisation of its products and systems
has not only given BEL long-term competitive advantage but also helped in aligning
itself with the country's dream of achieving Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in
Defence.
Vayu: How do
you see BEL making an impact in the domestic Defence and non-defence markets in
coming years and what are your strategies to retain leadership position in
these sectors?
BEL has maintained a
decent mix of Defence and Non-Defence business in its overall business
portfolio. In the Indian Defence Electronics segment, we continue to hold a
significant market share based on our deep understanding of customer’s needs
and our ability to fulfil it. As the technology landscape continues to evolve
in Defence sector, our concerted efforts in building state-of-the-art,
innovative products and solutions have helped us in being the preferred partner
of our Armed Forces.
BEL is actively participating in the
MoD's Make-I, Make-II and Make-III projects involving indigenous solution development with emphasis on
Sub-Systems, Systems and Services for which capabilities and competencies already exist. Further, BEL is also actively investing to
develop new capabilities as needed. Opportunities are being
explored to build long-term relationships with defence industry participants.
Diversification across products,
segments, customers, industries and geographies remains an important focus area
to unlock new opportunities and scale growth. This includes growing the
Non-Defence business where we see significant prospects, especially in metro,
civil aviation and cyber security areas. We will continue to build on our
existing competencies and diversify to newer areas. Additionally, we are
pursuing opportunities to expand our customer base in the existing and new
geographies.
Though competition
continues to intensify in our major business segments, our laser sharp focus in
delivering our brand promise of Quality, Technology & Innovation to our
customers gives us a distinct competitive advantage. This will continue to
remain our guiding business mantra for retaining leadership in our core
business segments.
Vayu: Please
tell us about your company's financial performance, turnover, order book
position, etc.
BEL has always been a profit-making
PSU despite various challenges including stiff competition. FY 2023-24 saw the
company achieve a record turnover of Rs. 19,819.93 Crore as against Rs.
17,333.37 Crore in FY 2022-23, thereby registering a growth of 14.35%. The
growth was driven by strong performances across all segments. Defence
contributed to 81% of revenue in FY 2023-24 with the balance 19% coming from
the Non-Defence segment. Profit after Tax grew by 33.7% to Rs. 4,020 Crore in
FY 2023-24 as against Rs. 3,007 Crore in FY 2022-23.
BEL also continued the momentum in
order acquisition by booking highest ever annual order inflow of Rs. 35,046
Crore during FY 2023-24. Headed into FY 2024-25, we expect order acquisition in
the range of Rs. 25,000 Crores. The company's order book position as on January
1, 2025, stands at around Rs. 71,000 Crore, giving it stable revenue
visibility. While we participate in new orders, we will be sharply focussed on
the timely execution of the existing order book. Our
near-term aim is to get an entry into the Maharatna club of PSUs. Towards this,
we are targeting a healthy revenue
growth of double digits driven by the expansion of both Defence and Non-Defence
businesses.
BEL won
many noteworthy awards and recognitions for its multidimensional excellence,
including the prestigious ‘CII EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence (2023)’
for Hyderabad Unit, ‘Karnataka State Export Excellence Award’, Economic Times
‘Iconic Brand of the Year Award - 2023', ‘Employee Excellence Award’ from Times
Group, Institution of Engineers (India) ‘Industry Excellence (Gold) Award for
Business Excellence’, ‘Project of the Year - Large Category (Runner Up) Award’
from Project Management Institute, Indian Chamber of Commerce ‘PSE Excellence
Awards’, Governance Now PSU Awards, National Export Excellence Award, etc.
Vayu: What is your vision for taking BEL on
a fast track growth path in coming years?
It’s
well acknowledged that fast track growth is basically the outcome of super
synchronised functioning of various key business functions including R&D,
Marketing, Operations, HR, Finance, etc. Our concerted focus has been towards
streamlining each of these business functions to set a strong foundation for
BEL to deliver fast track growth. Alongside our existing business segments,
various high growth areas (like Arms & Ammunitions, AI, Cyber Security,
Unmanned Systems, Rail & Metro) have been identified and a resilient
business model is being worked upon to deliver sustained growth in these
emerging segments.
Innovation has been the cornerstone
of our success and our customers can rest assured that BEL will continue to
develop innovative and quality products for them through collaborations with
DRDO labs, research & premier academic institutions, and niche technology
players. We will continue to build on our existing competencies and diversify
into newer areas. Opportunities abound, we also remain watchful of the
challenges brought by geopolitical situations, emerging technologies,
regulatory changes and evolving customer expectations. We will remain agile to
effectively navigate them and ensure steady growth path.
Roadmaps have been created for the
development of future products and technologies, creation of IPRs and
acquisition of key technologies. This will enable us to stay at the
cutting-edge of technology and meet our customer’s evolving requirements with
cost-effective and innovative solutions.