Opportunities in Telecommunications

Opportunities in Telecommunications SIEMENS INDIA, after last year's setback caused by difficult business conditions and disturbed industrial relations for more than four months, has achieved alround progress during 1985-86. Orders booked increased by 28 per cent to Rs 204.9 crore and turnover by 26 per cent to Rs 173.5 crore. With margins enhanced despite escalation of all input costs, gross profit leapt from Rs 10.39 crore to Rs 15.49 crore and net profit from Rs 2.64 crore to Rs 4.97 crore. Dividend has been stepped up from 14 per cent to 16 per cent. The increased distribution is covered 2.85 times by earnings as against 1.75 times previously. The board has also recommended a gift of equity shares on a one-for- four bases. Moreover, it is proposed to raise additional finance for the investment plans through an issue of equity shares by way of 'rights' in the ratio 1:2 at a premium of Rs 30 per share after the issue of bonus shares, Besides, it is intended to make a non convertible debenture issue of Rs 4 crore by way of private placement to augment working capital resources. The Rs 20 crore industrial electronics project at Nasik is in progress as per schedule. The pilot plant for training workers has already started and commercial production is expected to commence by November 1987. The directors expect that in 5 years the plant will provide sizeable business volume in industrial electronics products such as data acquisition, data logging and control-systems and process control equipment of the latest design. The central government has cleared a proposal from the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL), a government of West Bengal undertaking for the manufacture of 5,000 numbers per annum of electronic teleprinters based on technology from Siemens, West Germany. For this project, Siemens India has entered into a memorandum of understanding with WEBEL for promoting a joint venture company with 49 per cent equity by it and 51 per cent by WEBEL. The government has cleared the company's proposal for manufacture of critical components for electronic telephone instruments, subject to the condition that the unit should be located in a notified backward area. The company has also received a proposal from WEBEL to include this item for manufacture under the proposed joint venture company. The management has decided to accept WEBEL