Addressing the shareholders at the annual general meeting, he said, the company was passing through a difficult phase which forced the management to convert every bit of non-productive assets into productive ones.
"In the past couple of years, the company earned Rs 82 crore from hiving off idle lands which, in turn, invested in the employees separation package. In fact, the company has so far spent over Rs 105 crore for meeting VRS," he added.
He said that the on-going restructuring programme, codenamed Stretch 30, helped the company to save Rs 60 crore on wage payment.
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The on-going restructuring programme, Stretch 30, would help the company grab more market share by next two years, he hoped. Alstom Ltd has recorded a net profit of Rs 1.72 crore over a sales of Rs 414.08 crore in 1999-2000.
Managing director K K Moradian said the proposed joint venture with the German company KoCoS Messtechnik, a world leader on various types of measuring, recording, control, and testing equipments, would begin operations at Pondicherry by the end of this fiscal. The manufacturing of the new company is located in Pondicherry to take advantage of the backward area concessions, he added.
Poddar said the new company aims to grab a better pie of the electronic meter business, demand for which is on the rise. "Since the group does not have the technological expertise in manufacturing electronic meter, Alstom went for the strategic alliance with the German company." Alstom now makes electromechanical meters.
Alstom Ltd, during 1999-2000, has achieved a "substantial saving" through implementation of Stretch 30, an inhouse programme which entails reduction in costs, cycle tims, inventory by 30 per cent over a three-year period.