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BEML's truck production and business have nearly halved, after orders from the Armed Forces dwindled two years back.
The revenue has dropped to Rs 250 crore and the three units are operating at half their capacities after Army orders dropped in 2011-12, BEML said in an e-mailed response to Business Line.
“BEML is supplying at 50 per cent capacity since [military] orders tapered off,” it admitted.
Once the sole supplier to the military, BEML said it is at present participating in multi-vendor bids for about 2,000 8x8 vehicles and 6x6 vehicles.
Older orders for about 700 vehicles should last through 2015-16. “Orders for the Armed Forces are confidential and we cannot give you the details,” it said.
Since 1986, it has been assembling 8x8 and 6x6 category military trucks that are used off-road in rough terrains. Some trucks are also used launch the Akash surface-to-air missiles.
The vehicles are produced under licence from Tatra, now falling in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Post-1996, it sourced systems and parts from its exporting subsidiary, Tatra Sipox UK Ltd. Controversies cloud the BEML-Tatra truck supplies. Questions have been raised about buying from an agent company rather than the OEM. CBI is investigating a bribe charge.
“The average yearly revenue [from the trucks business] [was] Rs 500 crore in 2010-11. This has come down to Rs 250 crore in 2011-12 mainly due to lack of orders, making BEML units operate below capacity,” the Defence public enterprise said.
Turnover, Profit
The publicly traded company's turnover and profit both took a hit during 2011-12 and missed the Rs 4000-crore turnover target.
Normally it supplied around 600 vehicles in either category as in 2010-11.
This fell to 300 trucks last fiscal.
The truck assembly units at Bangalore, Mysore and the two-year-old one at Palakkad, it said, are operating below capacity.
In 2010-11 this business made a revenue of Rs 500 crore.
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