Having emerged from the red and posted profits for three successive years, the Kalamassery unit of HMT Machine Tools Limited is looking at continuing the good run having already bagged orders worth ₹60 crore to ₹70 crore for the ongoing fiscal despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
The public sector company is also expecting orders worth another ₹30 crore, which may further enhance its prospects. The Indian Railways, defence and ordnance factories remain the major clients of the company.
The Kalamassery unit is one of the six units of HMT Limited, a subsidiary of the Bengaluru-based holding company, HMT Limited.
The Kalamassery unit logged a sales turnover of ₹67.64 crore during the 2020-21 fiscal and a production turnover of ₹68.84 crore as against the target of ₹65 crore. The company posted an operational profit of ₹11.46 crore and a net profit of ₹3.37 crore subjected to audit, which it felt was a commendable feat considering the challenges posed by the pandemic situation.
‘Concerted efforts’
A company spokesperson attributed the feat to concerted efforts of the entire workforce ranging from trainee apprentices to employees and senior officials. The company now has a pool of 128 employees.
The company lost nearly three months to the pandemic-induced lockdown. Though it had a tough time till the half-yearly mark, the company went full blast after that, helping it eventually post profits with everyone becoming aware of the fact that without their committed efforts they would be staring at troubled times.
“However, we didn’t ignore the COVID-19 protocol and ensured strict compliance, which helped us avert pandemic infections to a large extent,” said the spokesperson.
The product line of the Kalamassery unit comprises high-value machines, including conventional and CNC Lathes and single/multi colour offset printing machines, and directing gears catering mainly for the Defence, Indian Railways, the Indian Navy, and major auto manufacturers.
