Successful clearance of dues by the three wings of the Indian defence forces has enabled Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to record a cash holding of Rs 7,135 crore currently as compared to a negative of Rs 5,477 crore on 31 March 2020.

In fact, the public sector undertaking (PSU) had plummeted to the extent of borrowing sums to pay salaries to its employees in 2018-19. However, the HAL’s order book is worth Rs 80,000 crore now and it is anticipating surpassing the Rs 1 lakh crore figure in the coming couple of years.

As of now, the PSU is staring at orders of 15 LCHs (light combat helicopter) and 12 LUHs (light utility helicopter), which could fetch them a total revenue of around Rs 5,000 crore.

HAL Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan told TOI, “After initial orders of the two helicopters, we are expecting orders for 180+ LUHs and 140+ LCHs. Orders for two fighter aircraft engines are also visible: The RD33 for the MiG-29 fighters and AL-31FP for Su-30. We’re expecting around 65-70 numbers of each.”

The company is looking to produce 12 units of Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft that will be worth Rs 10,700 crore. On the other hand, the total AL-31FP order will help it bag almost Rs 4,900 crore. HAL is anticipating exports amounting to between Rs 200-400 crore as it has faced inquiries for the Dornier-228 aircraft from Mauritius and Maldives.

Their issue with cash balance arose mainly because their collections were falling from September 2017 onward and also because the defence forces were engaged in other commitments. However, it recorded collections of Rs 34,475 crore in 2020-21 as compared to Rs 18,000 crore and Rs 10,800 crore in the two years prior to that respectively.

AL-31FP

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