The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Limited-Statement of the Chairman, Mr. S. Moolgaokar, for the year 1978-79

Company Limited Statement of the Chairman, Mr. S. Moolgaokar, for the year 1978-79 The year 1978-79 was a good year for your Coinpay. The Company's investments in Pune bore fruit and we were able to produce as many as 7,003 vehicles there. At Jamshedpur we produced 26,043 vehicles. Thus the total production for the year amounted to 33,046 vehicles, which is the highest attained so far. Sales increased by 33.3 per cent and amounted to Rs 375 crores as against Rs 281 crores during the previous year. TECHNOLOGICAL MATURITY 2. These quantitative changes in our operations have been accompanied by an important qualitative change. We have become self-sufficient in technology and we do not expect any difficulty in steadily improving our existing products, widening our range and expanding our capacity to meet the growing needs of our country. Two new vehicles have been wholly designed by the Company's Engineering Research Centre. These are the 15-tonne, 160 HP heavy vehicle and the 4-wheeI drive vehicle. The heavy vehicle will not only permit a substantially greater payload but will also result in considerable savings in fuel consumption per tonmile. This will enable the harassed and heavily taxed operator to achieve worthwhile operational economies. The 4wheel drive vehicle has been designed for defence and civilian use in deserts, sandy tracts and rough, hilly country, Both these products will have an assurer! market. Prototypes of additional new products designed and produced indigenously will be displayed at the International Trade Fair to be held in Delhi this November. All these products should provide a good indication of the progress the Company has achieved in developing our indigenous technology. As a consequence, a wide range of vehicles will be produced as we keep on increasing our installed capacity. Steps are already being taken to implement expansion or our production from the existing level to 56,000 vehicles per annumMost of the critical machine tools required will be manufactured by our Machine Tool Division which has been producing high-precision and sophisticated machinery like transferlines at costs which are substantially lower than the prices of equivalent imported machinery. These in-built strengths will enable us to implement our forthcoming expansion more quickly and economically than other automobile manufacturers.