Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has recorded a profit before tax of Rs 975 crore and a turnover of Rs 5,710 crore (provisional) for fiscal 2011-12. A release from the company said, BEL had also seen exports of $38.45 million. The turnover per employee during 2011-12 was Rs 52.9 lakh.
But, it was the civilian projects that earned the defence PSU much of the money. The PSU was involved in a few major products/systems being delivered to defence and other customers during the year. Among the products that it worked on were the Akash weapon system, coastal surveillance system, central acquisition radar (CAR-Rohini), communication sets & systems, night vision devices, shipborne systems, ground-based electronic intelligence system, new generation sonars and jammers.
There were many new initiatives during the year by the company. On the civilian front, BEL provided services for the socio economic & caste census and national population register, which contributed significantly to the turnover.
BEL designed and developed a low-cost tablet PC within four months and supplied 600,000 to the Ministry of Rural Development for the socio economic and caste census. Other new products introduced during the year were digital radio trunking system, integrated anti-submarine warfare system, and upgraded indigenous forward observer simulator.