BENGALURU: Dismissing claims of poor financial condition of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) R Madhavan said that the the public sector unit had an order book position of around Rs 64,000 crore.
“Though we definitely would prefer a better order book, it is not that bad,” he said, briefing media for the first time since he took charge in September this year, on Friday. The order book is for a period of four years.
HAL, he said, was expecting more orders in the next 3-6 months which will ensure a comfortable order book position for the firm. Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark 1 or Tejas Mark 1 was one of the biggest orders HAL was looking at with supply of the aircraft expected to begin in 2021.
Apart from it, HAL is also expected to pickup the production of Light Combat Helicopters, with an initial order of 15 followed by larger numbers. The PSU also had a running order of manufacturing Sukhoi Su-30 engines along with repair and overhaul of various aircrafts of the Indian Air Force, he said.
In locations such as Nashik, where the Su-30 aircraft production line ends next year, HAL will use the facility to produce more LCAs. With the introduction of new production lines, HAL can increase its production from eight LCAs per year to 20, he said. One more production line will be outsourced to four private firms, he added.
To a question, he said that HAL was yet to receive pending dues to the tune of `7,000 crore from various armed forces and a majority of it was from the Air Force. There are issues with the defence budget and payment will be completed as soon as more allocation is done for the Air Force, he said.
HAL, he said, had recorded sales of `18,200 crore last year with `4,000 crore receivable for services offered to IAF. The company had a cash balance of `6,000 crore during the June quarter, which had reduced to `1,000 crore by September. Meanwhile, the PSU received `2,000 crore of the dues from IAF. “We have been a debt-free company and are quite strong on our finances,” he said.
‘HAL workers’ morale high’
To a question on the Rafale deal, HAL CMD R Madhavan declined to comment on the issue saying that they were part of the project at one point of time. “Now, it is not with us and we wouldn’t like to comment on the issue,” he said. On whether unions were prevented from attending a protest meet organised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi with respect to the deal in Bengaluru recently, he responded in the negative. “Statements have come from unions that has not been recognised by us and none of the recognised unions have issued any statement,” he said, adding that employee morale was still high despite the controversy.