BEL Declares 180 p.c. Dividend

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) The 'Navratna' defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited has declared a dividend of 180 per cent for 2006-07 -- the highest in its 53 years of existence.

BEL Chairman VVR Sastry today said the DPSU had recorded a turnover of Rs 3952.69 crore for 2006-07 -- a 12 per cent increase over the previous fiscal's turnover of Rs 3536.28 crore.

The company has already paid 40 per cent interim dividend earlier in February this year. And all nine BEL units made profits during the year.

BEL's profit before tax was Rs 1052.47 crore as against Rs 855.26 crore the previous fiscal. The profit after tax was Rs 718.16 crore -- as compared to Rs 583.01 crore during the previous financial year.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) was established at Bangalore under the Ministry of Defence in 1954 to meet the specialised electronic needs of the Indian defence services. Over the years, BEL has grown into a multi-product, multi-technology, multi-unit company serving the needs of customers in diverse fields in India and abroad.

UNI