EC orders more electronic voting machines with BEL

Bangalore, Feb 11 (UNI) The Election Commission has ordered 137,000 more electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the State owned defence electronics giant Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

A senior official of BEL told UNI that the EVMS would be supplied before March 31.

These machines were upgraded ones compared to previous supplies and some of them would use braile language to enable blind to cast their votes, BEL Director for Research and Development and Marketing S K Mehta said at the Aero India 2007 on the concluding day today.

Mr Mehta said the Company was also expecting some export orders for the EVMs, especially from South East Asia and African countries. It had even been demonstrated in the United States.

Exports of EVMs would be a long drawn affair as they need to undergo a variety of clearances, he said.

On BEL's participation at the Aero India Sixth Edition, Mr Mehta said that the company had several inquiries and had signed up MOU with a couple of US aviation majors both for technology coopertion and for using the BEL facilities for contract manufacture.

The company which had brought out 14 new products this fiscal, had been growing at about 16 per cent compounded annual growth rate for the last few years. It's revenue had shot up to around Rs.4000 crore this year from about Rs 2500 crore during the previous Aero India event two years ago. Exports were expected to touch 20 Million US Dollars this year from about eight to nine Million dollars in 2005.

He said the 30 per cent offset clause in the new defence procurement policy had resulted in a number of companies in Europe and the US, who were eying for sizeable defence orders, looking at BEL to source their products or involving in development process.

UNI